And So It Begins Again
by butterfly.cell
Summary: - 'Jaffa Cakes' - Jack's returned and with it comes a long awaited relationship with Ianto, but can they overcome the dangers of life in Torchwood together? Starts at 2x01, but goes AU. This will be a 13 Part fic, 10 chapters each. Jack/Ianto pairing
1. Part 1 :: Chapter 1: Clarity

Okay, my first fanfic.

The story starts the morning of the day Jack returns to the Torchwood team, Series 2 Episode 1: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. From Ianto's POV, kind of tracking what's been going on with him in Jack's absence. I was unsure as to how long Jack was actually gone for between the series, so if I've mentioned something wrong, and someone knows the real time scale, please tell me and I'll change it straight away. I'm planning this to be a story about Jack and Ianto's relationship, but I wanted to explore it from just before Jack's return. For later chapters, there will be Jack/Ianto action, but i thought I'd ease myself in.

I've proof read it a few times, but there's been no Beta reader for this, so please, try it out and if you like it, comment!

( _**EDIT**: I decided to group this first section into Part 1 of the story line, on the advice of my friend Naomi. We thought it would be better to group up the story into different chapters rather than creating multiple separate stories for the same story line.. Cos I know how annoyedI get when I see a good fan fic, but it's a sequel/prequel to another which you need to read first. Why aren't they just on the same fic?_ )

**Disclaimer:** I DO NOT own any of the characters in this story, they belong to Russel T. Davies. The scenario also belongs to him, but the thougths in Ianto's head and the rest is my work.

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**And So It Begins... Again: Part 1**

_Chapter 1: Clarity_

Consciousness fought with Ianto's mind as it tried to surface from the dream he'd been enjoying, mere moments ago. He kept his eyes screwed shut and lay perfectly still, concentrating on the slowly fading dream. The term 'sand through fingers' drifted through his head and he grunted angrily, rolling out of bed and landing in a heap of dark brown linen on the floor. His early morning entrances were somewhat different from his usual appearance, so unorganised and clumsy that he almost cringed at the thought of anyone seeing him first thing in the morning, even Jack.

Jack. Captain Jack Harkness; Leader of Torchwood, part time play boy and a notorious sweet talker. They had been casual, catching minutes here and there throughout the day, or staying late to have more privacy. They'd never been more than a booty call for Jack, and booty calls didn't warrant waking up with someone in your bed in the morning.

Ianto groaned again as the memories started to flicker more clearly and extracted himself from the tangled bed clothes, staggering into the en suite bathroom and looking blearily in the mirror. He ran the cold tap and splashed the water across his face, dragging the remainder of his brain into the waking world with a sudden jerk. He looked up again and studied his face.

He smiled at himself, surprised to find that it wasn't a half hearted 'keep your spirits up' smile, it was more of a 'I feel good' smile. He also realised that when memories of Jack had floated through his head, the painful ache in his chest that usually accompanied them was gone. Now that he thought about it, the pain had faded over the past few weeks as he adjusted to life without Jack. Granted, he still cared deeply for the man, but he no longer controlled Ianto's state of mind. He no longer needed Jack for motivation to wake up and go to work in the morning. He enjoyed life for what it was and it was better for it.

Grinning more broadly, he set about getting ready for work. He emerged twenty minutes later, clean shaven and fully awake, a towel wrapped around his waist as he pulled out a clean suit and found a matching shirt and tie to go with it. He glanced at the clock. '6:45 am', plenty of time.

He whistled a long forgotten tune as he made himself a coffee and a piece of toast. He bolted down his paultry breakfast and headed out of his flat and down to his car, climbing in and driving to the Hub, an unusual spring in his step.

Ianto sat at Tosh's empty desk and swivelled around several times, fast enough to make him stumble when Tosh hit his shoulder to move him. He made his way to the stairs clumsily and sat on one of the lower ones, watching the team work. Tosh was, yet again, scanning the computer screens before her, searching for any unusual activity, before reverting to hacking some system or another… mostly likely top secret. Owen was downstairs, taking cultures and swabs of a particularly nasty alien the team had encountered and taken down the day before and Gwen was sitting at her desk.. doing whatever it was that Gwen did. Ianto had never been sure.

He smiled to himself and let his mind rove over what jobs he had for tomorrow. He was well on track and there was nothing more pressing than cleaning up the kitchen for him to do, so he went upstairs to investigate. He was just about to call the others about their next coffee when Gwen's voice tumbled through the door.

"There's a blowfish driving a stolen sports car in the eastern suburbs, heading into a highly populated residential area." Ianto hurried down the stairs to Gwen's briefing of the callout. He sighed; it was the first time today that they'd been called out and he'd been hoping to escape early. Shrugging on his jacket and buttoning it up, he took the handgun offered to him by Tosh and followed the others out of the Hub, to the SUV.

They soon had the sports car in sight and were following it through the suburbs, having to stop only once to ask an old lady whether she'd seen the alien. After that, it had been a simple matter of following the screeching brakes and slightly salty air.

Ianto rolled his eyes as Owen passed the steering wheel to Gwen and started shooting at the sports car, sending it careering off the road. He pulled out his handgun, double checked the bullets and made sure the safety was off. This was one of the least pleasant aspects of his job. He wouldn't have traded it in for anything else on offer, but he still couldn't stomach pulling the trigger on anyone, not after having to shoot Owen. He pushed the memories away concentrated on the highly charged atmosphere around him as the team hurried from the SUV and into a house as they heard gunshots.

Less than a minute later, Ianto's gun was pointing at the head of the blowfish, whose gun, in turn, was pointing at the head of a girl who had hold of by the neck. Fluent curses streamed through Ianto's head as the blowfish started talking, his sarcastic tones attacking the other three Torchwood members before turning themselves on him.

"…Which leaves me with the office boy, promoted beyond his measure."

_- God, those gills are distracting… But maybe he's right…Would Jack have promoted me?_

"All of you, lost without your master. All of you pretending to be so brave. All of you so scared!"

_- It's just big talk, he doesn't know, he's not right…But I _am_ scared, and I don't want to pull this trigger..._

"So what about it minion? Can you do it? How good are you? How sharp is your aim?"

_- Sharp enough…Or is it…When was the last time I fired a gun and felt confident? _

"What if you kill her?"

_- No.. No, I wouldn't be holding this gun if I wasn't good enough… I won't kill her, I won't…But is that a risk I'm willing to take?_

"What if I kill her first? Can you shoot before I do? Can you?"

_Yes… Yes… _

"Dare you? Would you? Won't you?!"

Ianto's finger hesitated for a split second as doubt flooded him, but a shot still rang out, a bullet finding its way straight through the blowfish's head, confusion in its wake. Ianto stared at his gun, not sure what had happened, how it had happened… He spun round to find the killer, half expecting an alien worse than the corpse on the floor, but his eyes met with something much more welcome, the all too familiar grin still in its rightful place…

"Hey kids, d'you miss me?"

Jack was back.


	2. Chapter 2: Relapse

Wow! I'm overwhelemed by the reviews of the first chapter, and I'm glad to know you all like it! Thanks for all the comments and support, they're much appreciated.

And on that note, we're back to the story. Set at the end of episode 1, back in the hub. Ianto needs to clear his head and sort out what's going on for him now. All Ianto's POV.

I assure you that once these first few chapters are out of the way, things will start heating up between Jack and Ianto and good times and bad times and all the one's in between!

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own any of the characters, they belong to the genius that is Russel T. Davies. All the thoughts in Ianto's head and everything else is my own work.

Enjoy and comment after!

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_Chapter 2: Relapse_

The previous evening had been hard and tiring, but Ianto's mind wasn't going down without a fight. It was sometime in the early morning after Jack's return and Ianto was sitting at his desk in the Tourist Office, finishing the paperwork on the Captain John Hart fiasco. He wasn't sure if he'd be demoted back to 'Administrator' now Jack had returned, but he felt the need to finish his day's work.

He tried his hardest to keep his head clear, but the clarity of mind that he'd enjoyed since Jack's departure was non existent. Thoughts and memories were jostling his consciousness, vying for attention that he didn't want to give. He sighed heavily and closed the file in front of him, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

_"…For you…"_

_"…How are you Ianto?…"_

_"…Dinner… A movie?…"_

He was filled with annoyance at himself for accepting the date, annoyance at Jack for being so casual about everything. He couldn't stop himself feeling the pain of his Captain's sudden entrance into an already tense situation. He wanted nothing more than to wake up in the morning and find out it had all been a dream.

His head felt crammed and claustrophobic and a slight tint of fear was hovering around the memories of Jack, and his words from earlier echoed unhelpfully in his ears. Against his better judgement, he decided to deal with them, to file through them in chronological order and put them aside. He sighed again and folded his arms beneath his head, closing his eyes and letting the thoughts he'd been holding back flood forwards.

_-I'm standing in the vaults and she's there. I saw her die… In two bodies, and she was standing there, as alive as the day we met. She wanted me to open the rift, saying it would fix everything… but she was wrong, _we_ were wrong… Jack was right… and he died because we didn't trust him. I betrayed him for the ghost of Lisa when I should've stood by the living, breathing Jack. _

Ianto frowned slightly at the memory, the pain and terror he'd felt echoing through him again.

_-Owen shot him… Right through the head. I should've stopped them then and there, I should've believed him, no matter what he'd said. I thought he was dead as I knelt by him, trying to find any plausible way to bring him back… Why did Owen shoot? Out of fear, anger? I don't know, but that shot rang in my ears. But then he woke up, gasping, panic flooding his features, his hand gripping my leg, but it was too late… We'd already opened the rift… He was too late._

The guilt that had laced his stomach for the past weeks was soothing a little by the acknowledgement of his wrong doings. Maybe this was the right decision, it would help clear everything away.

_-I wished he could've stayed just a few more minutes, his arms around my shoulders, trying to keep himself upright. He was so tired, so weak. I should've tailed Gwen and followed him, not stayed behind and waited. It was almost too much to bear when we got the call from Gwen. I didn't believe it! He'd died so many times before, this time would just take a little bit longer. We got to the field and I had to help Owen carry his body back to the SUV. His skin was so cold and pale, like marble, and when we laid him on the slab in the mortuary he looked so small, peaceful yes, but small. He didn't belong in a place like that. He didn't belong next to Suzie's bullet ridden corpse. He deserved more than that._

His breathing had started to quicken as remorse re awoke within him, the image of Jack's bloodless face still vivid behind his eyes. He could feel tears threatening and dealt with the memory. He'd finished with it and was moving on.

-_The smell of his coat was so comforting, so familiar. It was all I could do not to break down on the spot. I still had duties, so I buried the pain and moved on, helping with jobs around the hub, keeping my mind filled with seemingly pointless details about the rift. I was jealous, so jealous of Gwen down in the mortuary with Jack. It should've been me with him, it should've been me holding his hand and keeping him company… but I was afraid. But he needed me…My world had shattered at the sight of his face against the shale but it was gradually healing. At least, I like to think it was… And then, 6 days later, Tosh wrangled me into fixing some piece of machinery that was barely important…_

The lump that had formed in his throat on the day was rising again as Ianto sunk deeper into the memory.

_-…She dropped what she was holding and ran to the other side of the hub. I couldn't believe it. I knelt there and watched silently.. I was so scared… Was he ghost? No, the others could see him. I was walking towards him as he let go of Tosh and then I ran, stopping just short of him with my hand stretched out, suddenly afraid. Would I break him? He still looked so fragile. Then I felt his arms around me, comforting and strong as they'd ever been, but still that doubt ate away at me… Not for long though. The taste of his lips on mine was all the proof I needed. He was back!_

Ianto was thoroughly lost to the memory now, the ghost of Jack's lips on his still lingering. The echoes of shock and elation bombarding his senses, driving all other thoughts away.

_-He was gone. The one time I didn't make the coffee, he was gone. And I thought it would be forever… but he was alive, somewhere. That's all I needed to move on, and I was slowly starting to heal. I _had_ healed… Until tonight._

Pulling himself out of his mind, Ianto groaned and rubbed his eyes again, sleep starting to lace his now conscious mind. Everyone else had left immediately, and he didn't know about Jack, but he'd come to his office to work. He wagered he could go home now, catch a few hours sleep.

As he looked around the darkened room for any incriminating Torchwood objects, he noticed a figure in the doorway that lead down to the hub. His eyes widened slightly in shock. Jack was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, eyes set intently on Ianto's. He just kept staring, a look of pain and longing in them.

"Sir…?" Ianto wasn't quite sure what to say. He hadn't been alone with Jack since the office, and Jack had been full of things then.

"Ianto…" Jack's voice sounded distant, almost alien. If it hadn't been for the accent and unique way he spun the word, Ianto wouldn't have recognised it. He seemed so different from earlier, from before. Something had changed. "Can't you call me Jack?"

Ianto looked away and collected the files from his desk. He stood up, but hesitated on moving towards Jack, he wasn't sure if he was ready for whatever the man might do.

"Ianto… I…" Jack stammered and broke down, leaning heavily on the doorframe and covering his face with his hands. Ianto felt a small thrill of terror in his chest before putting the files back on his desk and walking over to him, wrapping his arms around the sobbing body. Jack leaned against him and gripped onto Ianto's shirt, burying his head in his shoulder. Ianto just stood there, arms around Jack, and closed his eyes.

"Sir… Jack. Is there anything I can do?" The annoyance and pain he'd felt at Jack's return had faded away, leaving nothing but affection in his eyes when Jack looked up. He copied Ianto and rubbed his eyes vigorously with the heels of his hands before looking straight into Ianto's stormy blue eyes, the ghost of his trademark grin playing on his lips.

"You know… I could really do with a cup of coffee." Ianto grinned and laughed, letting go of Jack and returning to collect the files on his desk and to press the blue button behind it. He turned round to find another new emotion in Jack's eyes. Trust. The mirth in his face dulled to an affectionate smile and he returned to the doorway, taking Jack's hand in his and leading him down into the hub.


	3. Chapter 3: Repentance

Alright, 2 in one evening! (don't expect this all the time, my mum's already having hissy fits about spending too much time on Torchwood, and not enough time on school work). I personally enjoyed writing the one, more dialogue and alot more action!

This one's from Jack's POV, because I felt that there should be a bit of variety. He is, afterall, Captin Jack Harkness, dashing hero and amazing sweet adn egotistical

So, enjoy chapter 3!

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own any of the characters, they belong to Russel T. Davies... though we're all entitled to manipulate them every so often! The rest of the story are my ideas!_

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_Chapter 3: Repentance_

Jack lay still as his mind drifted out of the waking trance he slipped into during the night time hours. He was pleasantly surprised to find his arms wrapped around the warm body of Ianto Jones. He tucked his knees up a little more, hooking Ianto's up with them, causing the sleeping man to squirm a little and nestle backwards into Jack's chest. He smiled. He could get used to this.

His mind drifted through the previous night, the long talk with Ianto, the hot, glorious coffee that he'd missed so much in his long absence. It was hard to think that to the team he'd only been gone for a few days, a few weeks at the very most. Ianto had been surprisingly calm about the whole thing. More than once Jack had choked and stopped for a length of time, in mid sentence, the horror of it showing in his eyes. Ianto never questioned him once.

Ianto chose that moment to take a deep breath in and twist in Jack's arms, his nose pressed gently to Jack's chest, an arm flopping over his waist and his legs absently twining with Jack's. Jack smiled again. He definitely could get used to this.

He lent his chin on Ianto's head and closed his eyes briefly, considering the situation. It was the first time Ianto had slept in his bed, the first time Jack had felt anything more for the man than lust or a vague affection. He felt a wave of guilt at that thought. He knew what Ianto had been through and it was more than obvious that Ianto's feelings were stronger than his used to be.

But a year of dying repeatedly, being riddled with bullets or shocked by live wires, and then being mercilessly dragged back to life, the pain and fear ever present, was more than he thought he could take. Those endless days of being manacled in an empty boiler room… The frequent, failed escape attempts… The never ending torment from the Master.

An involuntary shudder flashed down his spine and he felt the warm body in his arms stir again. Jack opened his eyes to find those stormy blue eyes looking at him imploringly. Those same eyes suddenly screwed up and Ianto yawned, trying to suppress it, but failing. This was one of the sweetest, most comical things Ianto had ever done in Jack's presence and he smiled, grinned, at the young man. The still sleepy Ianto tightened his arm around Jack's waist and curled up more, entwining the two bodies more. He closed his eyes again and rested his forehead under Jack's chin, taking in a deep breath and letting it out, humming contentedly.

This was more than Jack could take and he started to chuckle, kissing the top of the young man's head gently.

"Jack…?" Ianto's voice drifted up from his chest, slightly muffled and husky, nothing like the sharp voice he was used to. "Well… it's just… forget it…"

Jack felt Ianto's foot gently running up and down his calf and shivered a little. Another thing he could get used to. "You know… you're still wearing clothes."

This seemed to wake Ianto up as he jerked back and inspected himself, confusion in his face as he looked up at Jack, mouth open slightly, forming a question he doubted was going to be spoken. Jack grinned and chuckled again.

As Ianto's face turned from shock to a quiet annoyance, Jack stopped laughing, the grin slipping into a smile as he pulled Ianto's face towards his and kissed him gently on the lips He brought his head back a little, savouring the sweet taste on his lips for a moment. He was surprised, again, as Ianto closed the gap between them and kissed him deeply, his hands moving up to Jack's cheeks, holding his face in close.

Jack returned the kiss and let it evolve, pouring in all the passion and longing for the young man that he'd felt for the past year of his life. His hand found it's way underneath Ianto's t-shirt and it ran lazily along his spine.

He was enjoying this more than he thought he would, and was disappointed when Ianto drew away from him. He kept his eyes closed for a moment longer, memorising and cataloguing the feel Ianto's lips in the back of his mind. He smiled again and kissed Ianto's forehead.

"I missed you, Jack." Ianto's voice sounded and he looked down. "You make everything more exciting, more fun. I missed that."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "And my stunning good looks and dazzling charm were for nothing?"

"Well… I get a lot more work done without the harassment…" Ianto wasn't meeting his eyes, so he guessed there was something more below the surface. "And it's not right without making your coffee first thing in the morning."

"You've got to admit, you miss the sex." Ianto looked up sharply, the steely annoyance glinting in his eyes again. He pulled himself free from Jack and climbed up out of the sleeping space.

"Oh.. C'mon! Ianto, come back!" Jack sighed and hoisted himself up out of the bed and into his office. It was cold up in the main body of the hub and he was only wearing his boxers, so he searched around and found yesterday's shirt and undershirt to pull on.

Wandering out of the office, he headed straight for the kitchen, wagering that Ianto would be making himself a coffee. He was right.

Ianto was standing facing the door, leaning on the counter behind him with his legs crossed and a cup of coffee in his hand. He glowered at Jack as he shuffled into the room.

"Coffee…?" Jack looked hopefully at Ianto and suppressed a smile as Ianto moved away from the counter and revealed a second cup of coffee. Jack moved slowly over and took the mug, taking a deep mouthful and sighing appreciatively. He wouldn't take this stuff for granted again. "We were having a nice moment there… Why'd you leave?"

Ianto looked at him silently, took a mouthful of coffee and moved over to Jack. Taking both cups and placing at a safe distance, he placed his hands on the counter behind Jack, pinning him in place.

"You die… twice… You leave for weeks and go through what seems like hell, both living and dying, and you think I missed the sex?" The was a quiet fury simmering beneath the words, showing in Ianto's eyes and Jack stared involuntarily at them, unable to look away. However, Jack wasn't in the mood for an inquest and a sly smile played at the corners of his mouth. He darted forwards and kissed Ianto on the nose, drawing back to enjoy the small victory.

"You swan back in, gun blazing, with an ex boyfriend in tow, handing out dates and compliments like they're confetti!" Ianto's eyes had softened a little, but he kept a flawless face up. Jack kept smiling at him, slowly but surely melting the anger in the young man's eyes.

"You were the only one I asked on a date, if you don't mind me saying." Ianto studied him carefully and maintained his distance, just in case Jack was thinking of kissing him again.

"Do you realise how much I've had to put up with for you? Being the booty call and the throw away shag?" There was pain in his eyes now and Jack wasn't smiling anymore. The guilt was creeping back.

"I'm sorry, Ianto. I really am… I should've thought about your feelings more." Jack lowered his eyes for a moment and looked back up at Ianto. "In the dark places, in the terrifying places, you were the one that kept me sane. The thought of you gave me a meaning…"

Without warning, Ianto kissed him forcefully, eyes closed. Jack returned it and moved an arm around Ianto's waist, the other hand moving to the back of his neck, keeping him close. After several long, glorious moments of the violently passionate kiss, Ianto drew back.

"You owe me." Ianto looked seriously at Jack, hands still planted on the countertop on either side of Jack.

"Well… Maybe I can start making it up to you." Jack grinned and kissed him again, slightly softer, but no less caring. Ianto's arms moved around him and they embraced each other in the kitchen, so close they could've been one person.

Jack's hands slid down Ianto's back and under his t-shirt again, roving the skin underneath. He started to play with the hem of the material and Ianto broke away, smiling.

"Sir, I believe it's against Rules and Regulations to participate in acts of a… mature nature in the kitchen." Ianto's voice was barely more than a whisper, but Jack caught every word. He grinned and took hold of Ianto's hand and dragged him back through the hub and into his office. He stopped, pointed and looked at the young man with a playful glint in his eye. Ianto returned the look with one of his signature, heart-melting smiles and followed Jack's commanding finger, jumping down into the sleep space with Jack hot on his heels.


	4. Chapter 4: Compensation

Again, I want to say thankyou to everyone who's been reading and reviewing, it really means alot to know so many of you out there like it!

Jack's given everyone the day off after the Captain John catastrophe and Ianto decides to take advantage of the situation. It switches between POVs depending on what's happening.

Inspired by pippychick's 'Dinner, and a Movie?' fic in which Jack writes Ianto a list. It made me wonder what Ianto's list would be like if he ever wrote one. It's not as kinky... by far, but I thought it fitted the moment. I highly suggest reading pippychick's Janto fics, they're brilliant!

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT (sadly) own Jack or Ianto, they belong to Russel T. Davies... and it will remain so until I conquer the world and claim them for myself... It could happen!

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**_Chapter 4: Compensation_

Jack lay on his back and stared at the ceiling of his sleep space with a vacant grin on his face. His hands were tucked behind his head and the bed clothes were draped haphazardly across his midriff, leaving only one leg exposed to the cool air. He enjoyed the sensation of the differing temperatures and sighed contentedly, wiggling his toes a few times experimentally.

He lay like that for a few minutes before looking towards the entrance to his office, wondering what Ianto had got himself involved in. The morning had gone pretty well so far. He'd 'woken up' with Ianto in his arms, a weight off his chest and a warm glow deep inside… Then the sex had come. The passionate, lusting sex that he'd waited so long for, and it had been sweeter than ever before knowing it was Ianto who brought those sensations to him.

He stretched a little and was about to sit up when Ianto's legs emerged. Jack was a little disappointed to find him wearing his underwear and t-shirt again, but didn't dwell on it for too long. Instead, he chose to watch Ianto carefully, waiting for the young man to say something.

"Right then." That wonderful welsh accent hung around the words deliciously and Jack smiled despite himself. "I have made you a list."

Jack was confused. A list? For what? Ianto was taking his turn to smile at the confusion on his lover's face and chuckled a little when it failed to clear. He bent his head down and kissed Jack gently on the lips before drawing back out his reach.

"I have made you a list." He repeated his last words with a hint of triumph in his eyes, a challenge glittering in them. "You might find it interesting."

Ianto handed Jack a piece of folded up paper, smiled, then returned to the office, starting to dress himself again in his impeccably neat style.

Jack unfold the paper and scanned it quickly, the confusion turning to shock and then to disbelief as the contents sunk in. He leapt up and stuck his head and shoulders out of the entrance to his office, finding Ianto sitting behind his desk, dressed in a three piece suit with a magenta shirt on, matched wonderfully with a deep purple tie. Jack glowered at him and shook the piece of paper in his hand at him.

"A list?!"

Ianto sat perfectly still, his elbows resting on the desk with his fingers meeting in arches in front of his face. A thrill of triumph flashed through his mind at the look of abject disgust on Jack's face. He raised his eyebrows at the man kept a calm face as Jack hoisted himself up into the office.

"Is there a problem with anything on there, sir?" His voice was immeasurably calm and docile. Inside, he knew that nothing would come from Jack's rage as he held the key to Jack's confidence.

"Why is there a list?" Jack had planted his hands down on the desk in front of Ianto and peered intently into the young man's eyes.

"You owe me… Big time. That list is the road to an even ground." He met Jack's stare with a level confidence, knowing he was going to win this time. "I suggest you get dressed, sir, and make a start on the list."

Leaning back in the chair, he studied Jack's face for any signs of acceptance… There! That steely glint in his eyes had disappeared. Ianto grinned from ear to ear. He continued to smile as Jack turned around and delved in some drawers, pulling out a clean t-shirt and pair of boxers. He turned around with a looked of resentment and Ianto held out a pile of folded clothes.

"There's a clean shirt and your trousers, sir." Jack's eye twitched and he grabbed the clothes from Ianto's hands, pulling them on roughly and buttoning his shirt up, leaving the trademark two buttons undone at the top. He zipped his trousers up and shoved his shirt into the waistband. Finally, he reached down to slip his suspenders over-

Suspenders? Ianto was still looking intently at him, the annoyingly smug smile still on his beautiful features.

"That would be the deposit, returned on completion." Ianto suddenly stood up and walked over to the frozen Jack, taking his chin and kissing him hard on the lips before turning away, hands in pockets, and walking out of the office, leaving the stunned man standing alone.

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Ianto was sitting comfortably behind Jack's desk again, feet propped up on the surface, a good book in his hands. It had been a long time since he'd been able to sit down and read a book. 

He didn't look up as Jack stormed into the room, a tea towel draped over his shoulder, a moody glare on his face. "Number 5, cross it off. Now." He wasn't amused. Not one bit. Ianto smiled at him and pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket, crossing number 5 out neatly. He could guess that Jack hadn't had a particularly fantastic time sorting out the dishwasher. He'd unloaded it and reloaded it with a fluent stream of curses flowing from the direction of the kitchen. A particularly loud and violent curse had alerted Ianto to the fact that the dishwasher's door was broken… again.

"That counts for number 7 as well, I think… General Maintenance?" Jack had an almost pleading look in his eyes and Ianto took mercy, pleased to have some degree of power over the older man. He pulled the list towards him and moved the pen to hover over the paper, letting it pause for a few moments before crossing number 7 out as well.

Jack was doing well, he had already done half of his tasks, but had several more tedious tasks left, which would probably take him the rest of the day. Ianto smiled as he threw a clip board at Jack, who caught it smoothly in one hand. He turned on his heel and stormed from the room, heading down into the hub. Ianto leant back in the chair again and watched Jack on the CCTV reel being played through one of the small television screens in Jack's office. The man was studying the list, memorising it then processing it. He looked up, a thoughtful look on his face and Ianto waited for his head to pop round the door.

"These are all my clothes…" The anger from his face had faded a little as he looked inquisitively at Ianto. He simply nodded, meeting Jack's eyes. Without another word, Jack gathered together the clothes on his list, shoved them in a military issue duffle bag and headed out of the hub. Some of the triumph had drained from his head at Jack's expression, but it made him smile non the less. He was learning.

Jack had returned a few hours earlier, and Ianto had ordered in two hawaiian pizzas for them to eat as it was closing in on 3 in the afternoon. Jack had sat, almost silently, in the board room as they ate and disappeared down to the archives soon after. It seemed he was in a hurry to finish his list… Or rather, get to the last point on his list.

* * *

Ianto had sat in Jack's office all afternoon and listened to some jazz on Jack's old record player, reading his book. At some point, he'd relaxed enough to remove his suit jacket and loosen his tie a little. At around 8:30 pm he looked up at the CCTV again and saw Jack sitting with his back against the wall, a surprisingly small pile of paper left to go through. Ianto smiled again, closed his book and ventured down to his usual haunt. 

When Ianto got to the room, he entered and sat down on the floor next to Jack, looking straight ahead. Jack sighed heavily and pulled himself to his feet. Ianto watched as he pulled open a drawer (the correct drawer at that) and filed the papers in his hand neatly away. Turning round, he looked at Ianto, his hands on his hips and a triumphant grin on his face.

"That's two left now, sir." Ianto smiled affectionately at Jack and got up, waiting by the door for Jack to make his way out of the room, following him as he left. They made there way to the cells in a comfortable silence, Jack slightly ahead of him. They rounded the corner and Jack swung himself into the room that contained Janet's cell, Ianto choosing to take the more conventional route of the stairs. He stood facing the cell, leaning on the Perspex door of the cell opposite, watching as Jack retrieved the hunks of raw flesh from the cooler at the end of the room. His nose was wrinkled, but his eyes had a hard determination in them. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he opened the door and slowly met the eyes of the swaying weevil before him.

Ianto felt his heat beat a little faster and his throat constrict in sympathy as he watched Jack in the cell. They were still for a long time, Jack knowing that he had to get closer before he could put the food on the floor, keeping it away from the door so that the weevil could get all of it without damaging the door.

Suddenly, both lunged forwards, Jack depositing the bucket of meat squarely in the centre of the floor and retreating. Janet had lunged for Jack's throat and Jack hadn't quite been fast enough on drawing back.

He yelled in pain and Ianto rushed forwards, slamming the door closed as Jack dived to safety. He turned around to see blood dripping down Jack's arm and felt a wave of guilt as he realised this could've been avoided if he'd stopped the game a little earlier.

"It doesn't even hurt!" Jack was breathing heavily, gripping his arm tightly to stop the flow of blood. He looked up at Ianto, grinning in his usual boyish manner.

"Come on, Jack, we need to get to Owen's stash… Lets get you cleaned up." Ianto smiled and hoisted Jack to his feet, steadying him as they walked back through the hub, his arm around Jack's shoulders. He had to concentrate on letting him go when they'd made their way to the autopsy room.

"Right then, shirt off." He was smiling as Jack chuckled, unbuttoning his ripped shirt and throwing it in Ianto's face playfully. "Okay then, not too deep, so you won't need stitches." Ianto leaned in and started to wash the gash in Jack's upper arm, near his shoulder. The bleeding had stemmed a little, but there was still a large amount trickling over his pale skin.

"Since when were you the doctor here?" Jack's voice was soft and playful, his mouth only inches from Ianto's ear as the young man bent down to study his arm closer, washing and cleaning it so carefully that he couldn't feel anything other than a dull ache that came with every good cut.

"Every Torchwood officer has to take a first aid course, in case something should happen to the medic on duty." He knew that Jack was aware of his first aid skills as it was Jack himself who'd offered to be the resuscitation dummy all those many months ago. He carefully taped the gash up with butterfly stitch tape and covered the whole thing with a patch of self adhesive gauze. When he was finished he stood back to admire his work.

"Of course, Owen should give you a tetanus shot tomorrow, just in case." He laughed at the momentary horror on Jack's face, well aware of his fear of needles. He grinned as Jack's face slipped back into a moody scowl and leant forwards to kiss Jack lightly on the lips, his hand tilting Jack's face up slightly.

Without warning, Jack's hands flew to Ianto's neck, holding the young man in place, kissing him harder as the longing that had been building throughout the day broke its restraints. He sighed happily, smiling against Ianto's lips, his tongue running over Ianto's even teeth. Eventually, after a blissful few minutes, Jack let Ianto go and wrapped his arms around his waist, staring him straight in the eyes. They stood and watched each other carefully before Jack took hold of Ianto's hand again, dragging him through the hub for a second time in the past day, into his office and down into his sleep space.

"Right, lets get this list checked off and finished." He leant forwards again, kissing him hard on the lips, his hands deftly unbuttoning Ianto's waist coat and shirt. He had the young man pinned against the wall behind him and Ianto couldn't even move his arms. He didn't need to. Jack knew exactly what to do.

* * *

For the second time that day, Jack found himself completely naked, the bed sheet thrown over him and Ianto, the young man's arms wrapped around his waist, his own draped over Ianto's shoulders. Neither had talked for most of the day, but they'd spent the last hour so close that words were irrelevant. Jack was pleased with himself. 

Ianto was pleased with Jack as well. He suspected that his captain would be a lot more wary when it came to abusing the machinery in the hub, and more careful when eating doughnuts. He now knew the horrors of trying to get jam stains removed from his shirts. He tightened his arms around Jack's waist and looked up, finding Jack's attention already on him.

"I had a good day today, Jack." Ianto could hear the vulnerability in his voice and Jack leaned down and kissed him gently on the forehead. He closed his eyes and smiled, feeling safe in Jack's strong arms.

"By the way, your suspenders, they're in that drawer." He lifted an arm and pointed at a compartment in the side of Jack's sleep space. Jack looked from the drawer to Ianto and back again, a look of incredulity on his face.

Ianto took advantage of the momentary drop in Jack's defence to kiss him again, taking in the sweet taste of his skin before Jack came to his senses.

"If you care, the answer is 'Yes, I missed it.'" Ianto smiled and Jack looked up and grinned at him.

"I knew it!" In a surge of victory, Jack decided to claim his prize and ran his hands down Ianto's bare chest, trailing his fingers over his stomach and kissing him deeply, readying them both for the coming hour.


	5. Chapter 5: Capture

Sorry this has taken a little longer than the others, but I've had maths coursework (boo hiss) to complete. However, that's nicely out of the way and I have more free time to dedicate to this (which I'm very happy about)! I decided to send the storyline away from the series, making up events that haven't happened and almost certainly won't happen, so please don't say that it's incorrect. From now on, this story is my own idea and I'm building up a plot! shock horror

I must say, the spells of unconsciousness are similar SPOILER to those of Owen's in Series 2 Episode 7 when he passes out. I felt it would be a little too hard to descirbe, and a little too abstract (plus that how I imagined it to be), so I decided to draw on the show a little for the description.

Also, I have to give some credit for the ending (the second to last paragraph) as I picked up the idea when reading a Jack/Ianto fic about Ianto's fear of Storms. Jack does something very similar in that (proably the same thing, jsut reworded), but it was so well written, and it showed so much feeling on Jack's part, I felt it would be right in place in this chapter. I strongly suggest going to read **Stormy Weather** by **Joulez **(found on my favourites list) as it's really cute and a great Jack/Ianto fic!

**Disclaimer (as always):** I DO NOT own the wonderful Torchwood team, they belong to RTD (genius and mastermind).

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_Chapter 5: Capture_

The following day was when everything started to change.

The team turned up at their normal times, having enjoyed their surprise day off that Jack had granted them on John's departure. The bustled in, all at the same time, and lazily made their way to their desks. Jack was standing in his office, surveying the scene. He was impressed. This was the first time he could remember them all being in on time, and smiling! That was a novelty for Torchwood.

It was then that he smiled himself. Ianto had woken up at around 6:30 am and had gone to have a shower and shave before the day's work. Jack had followed. After a brief yet intoxicating fornication session in the shower, they'd settled on washing each other thoroughly, standing under the hot jet of water in a comforting embrace, Jack behind Ianto, his arms around his waist and his chin resting on Ianto's shoulder.

But it hadn't been long before Ianto reluctantly insisted on finishing his morning preparations, finally removing Jack with the promise of a hot coffee once he was satisfactorily groomed for the day. Jack had followed him out of the shower and dried and dressed himself sloppily as Ianto did the same but in a far more respectable and organised manner. He finally shrugged on his waistcoat over his shirt, buttoned it up and straightened his tie, turning to Jack and beckoning him silently out of the shower room.

They made their way upstairs and Ianto had delivered the promised coffee, kissing Jack quickly then moving off to get started on the day's work.

Jack shook his head to clear it as the team started to look around for him. Walking out of his office, he leaned on the banister outside and looked down.

"Hey, Jack!" Tosh was the first to see him, waving as she did. God, he'd missed her. She was the most dedicated of all of them and the most caring. She seemed genuinely happy to see Jack and it made him feel at home.

"You've all got a cup of Ianto's Magic Coffee in the kitchen, so I suggest drinking it before it goes cold and you ruin his hard work." Jack was surprised to find that he meant it. Shuddering a little at the memory of yesterday, he walked back into his office and sat at his desk, staring at the little CCTV screen he had tuned into the camera in the Tourist Office. There was a slightly soppy smile on his face as he watched Ianto move around the room with purpose.

He must have watched for almost 10 minutes before it happened for the first time.

In the middle of writing out some paperwork, he dropped his pen and slumped forwards onto the desk, head colliding with the desk sharply. He jerked back up immediately, staring wildly around the room, gasping in the air, hands planted firmly on the desk.

Jack watched to make sure Ianto was orientated again with his surroundings before he looked away. He was probably just worn out from the late night they'd had. He smiled to himself again and carried on with his work, eager for the evening to come.

* * *

It was nearing the end of the work day and Ianto was almost finished on the document in front of him. It had been a very slow day, no invasions, no mysterious artefacts, nothing. Sighing, he signed the bottom of the page, closed the file and made his way into the hub, tucking the papers under his arm. He went through the usual intimidating corridor and waited for the heavy door to roll back and let him inside. 

Jack was walking around to meet him and he looked up and smiled, meeting his eyes briefly. He was about to walked through the door when something echoed in his head and his vision went black. He looked around, the darkness rippling. He was no longer standing in the hub, but in a pitch black space, with nothing but lurking shadows in the corners of his vision. He tried to look at them straight on, but they moved as soon as his eyes did. He felt fear bubbling in his chest and a pain ripped across his left forearm.

A moment later, he was awake, slumped in a heap at the bottom of the wall. He gasped at the air and sat up, fearfully looking around. Jack had just reached him and was crouching down, his strong arms holding Ianto's prone form tightly. Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack and breathed deeply, eyes closed, trying to forget what he'd just seen.

"Ianto, are you okay? Did you hit your head?" Jack let go of Ianto and made him sit down properly, legs out, back flat against the wall. Owen was crouching on the other side of him, looking into his eyes and pulling out his stethoscope to listen to his heart.

"I… I'm fine… just slipped…" Ianto closed his eyes and continued to breathe deeply, trying to control his erratic heartbeat as Owen undid his tie and lifted his shirt up. As the cool metal disk touched his skin, he flinched and hit his head off the wall behind him. Groaning, he opened his eyes and lifted his hand to rub the sore spot on the back of his skull. "That was uncalled for."

"Okay, okay… I just need to go through a few routine questions." Owen grinned a little and put the stethoscope on the floor, taking Ianto's shoulders and looking the man straight in the eyes. Ianto stared back, his vision a little blurry from the proximity of Owen's face. "What year is it? And what happened the day before last?"

Ianto feigned a look of confusion and Jack kicked him in the thigh gently. That made him stop and sober up slightly. "It's 2008 and the day before yesterday was when Jack came home, we chased a blowfish in a sports car and Captain John tried to kill us all."

Owen nodded in satisfaction and stood up, looking at Jack. "He's probably just overworked. Did you let him go home for the day like the rest of us?" Jack had his arms folded across his chest an indignant look on his face.

"Of course I did!" Owen looked at him accusingly, then offered a hand to Ianto, pulling him to his feet.

"You, mate, need to go home and sleep. You've been working solid hours since him over there buggered off, and I get the feeling you didn't take advantage of yesterday to sleep." He patted Ianto on the back and disappeared off into the autopsy room.

"Don't worry about this paperwork, I'll file it with the rest of mine." Gwen smiled kindly at him and walked back to her desk. She pulled Jack to one side as she did so, leaving Ianto looking a little phased as Tosh led him to the sofa to sit down. "Jack, it's almost the end of the day, why don't you just take him home and make sure he's okay. I'm sure we can all handle finishing up for the day."

Jack looked over at the sofa, the fear still present in Ianto's face. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand, turning back to Gwen. "You're right… It's getting late and today's been quiet. I'll take him back now. If you need me, you know where to find me."

Strolling round to his office, he leant through the door, unhooked his coat and twisted around, slipping his coat on in one smooth movement. He walked to the sofa and put a hand on Tosh's shoulder, indicating that she could leave Ianto now. He was curled up, his elbows resting on his knees and his hands hooked around behind his neck. Jack sat down gently and unlaced his fingers from each other, taking his hand.

"Lets go home, Ianto." The young man looked up at him and smiled briefly, trust flooding his face. Jack tried to smile back but barely managed it. Instead, he stood up and slipped his arm round Ianto's shoulders, as much for the young man's piece of mind as for his.

Gwen and Tosh stood together and watched the two back retreating through the huge rolling door. Tosh's eyebrows were knitted together in worry and Gwen looked on sympathetically.

"You know what that looked like?" Tosh's voice was small in the vast expanse of the hub. Owen poked his head around the door to reply.

"It looked like not enough sleep." His face was etched with disapproval. "It's almost like he doesn't think we can manage without him!"

"Remember the time he was ill? And we had to manage be ourselves?" Gwen looked at him pointedly.

"Ah… yes…" With that cleared up, he came round the door fully, puzzled by Tosh's stare fixed on the door. "You were saying?"

Tosh turned round to look at the other two, the confusion still evident in her face. "When Ianto came round, did that remind you of something?"

Gwen and Owen exchanged mystified looks, not sure what she was hinting at.

"When he woke up… Didn't it… Didn't it look like-"

"-Jack coming back from the dead." Gwen's words rang out and the silence engulfed them as realisation drew the three sets of eyes to the now closed doorway.

* * *

Ianto had settled in the passenger seat of his car, trying to ignore the slightly reckless driving that Jack was participating in, praying that there would be a whole car there to drive back to the hub in the morning. He sighed slightly, his forearm itching a little. 

"What's wrong?" Jack's voice was full of concern, full enough to make Ianto open his eyes and look over at the older man. He was frowning at the road, a look of determination set into his features. "You look pretty pale… Are you sure everything's okay?"

Ianto just nodded, Jack didn't need to know what he'd seen when he'd passed out earlier. He'd just think he was crazy and tell Owen not to let him back into the hub for a week… But every time he closed his eyes, the memory of the terrifying shadows came back to him, the fluttering in the corners of his vision, the intense fear that had gripped him. He shuddered involuntarily and Jack put on a burst of speed to get back to Ianto's flat faster.

It only took a couple of minutes. They were soon parked in front of the neat little building, and Jack was opening his door and leading Ianto out gently. He took hold of his hand and led him up the stairs and in through the door, sitting him down on the sofa before returning to lock up. Ianto watched as Jack kicked his boots off and threw his coat over the back of the armchair.

"Right, I'm staying to look after you, nothing more." He smiled kindly at Ianto's puzzled expression and laughed a little. "You don't need to look so shocked!" Ianto managed a smile and stood up, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling before dropping them down again and shrugging off his jacket. He shuffled silently into his bedroom and tossed the jacket on the bed. Slowly, his fingers fumbling slightly, he undid his waistcoat and shirt, pulling his tie free from his collar and throwing that on top of the jacket. He pulled the waistcoat and shirt off and dropped them on the floor before unbuckling his belt and letting this trousers fall, twisting on the spot to sit down heavily on the bed. He looked up to see Jack leaning on the doorframe, as he'd done two nights previously, a little smirk on his face.

"I thought you were just looking after me." Ianto bent down and tugged his socks off his feet clumsily, tossing them over his shoulder. He pulled back the covers on his bed and grabbed the dark grey pyjama trousers and baggy grey t-shirt that he liked to sleep in. He looked back up at Jack and smiled a little before walking through the door to the bathroom and locking it behind him.

He heard Jack laugh to himself and walk away, probably to make an attempt as some coffee. Avoiding the mirror, Ianto removed his undershirt and boxers and stepped into the shower, enjoying the feel off the warm water pummelling his back. It was easier to forget the horrors of the day in the warm water.

Eventually, there came a knock on the door and Jack called in. "Everything okay in there?"

Ianto sighed heavily and decided to shut the water off, grabbing a soft blue towel from the railing beside the shower. "Yes, Jack, I'm fine."

He managed to dry himself and pull his pyjama trousers on before Jack knocked again. This time, Ianto unlocked the door and stood squarely in front of him, his t-shirt slung over his shoulder as he stared into Jack's eyes. "Jack. I appreciate the concern, but all I was doing was getting dressed."

He could see Jack bite back a retort as he moved away from the door and back into the open plan kitchen/living room. Ianto's jaw almost came free as it dropped at the sight in front of him. His bedroom was completely tidy, the abandoned suit and tie hung on a hanger on the door, the shirt and socks in the dirty linen basket in the corner. His bedclothes were smoothed out and the mess of books and bills that had been threatening to drop from the bedside table were stacked neatly on the surface. Ianto was stunned. He wandered out into the living room, pulling on his t-shirt, and found Jack sitting in the armchair, a cup of coffee in his hands. He walked over, placed the coffee on the table and bent down and kissed him gently as a thank you. Jack smiled and stood up, placing a hand on the small of Ianto's back and directing him back into the bedroom.

"You need to go to sleep." Jack looked earnestly at the young man and Ianto felt a wave of affection for him. "I should've let you get more sleep last night… But as I can't change time, I can just enforce this on you!" His trademark grin was back on his face as he lifted the covers back for Ianto to climb in, handing them to him to make himself comfortable. Ianto closed his eyes, a half smile playing on his lips and he squirmed himself into a snug cocoon of sheets. He felt Jack's lips place a kiss on his forehead and then heard him flick the light switch off and suddenly opened his eyes.

"Jack?!" The light flicked back on and Jack was standing in the doorway, concern lighting his eyes again. "Jack, will you be outside? Will you stay?" The concern died down and he nodded silently. He flicked the light off again and walked back into the living room, leaving Ianto alone in the bedroom to sleep. He closed his eyes and found himself drifting off into a slightly uneasy sleep.

It must've been an hour or so of peaceful sleep later when it happened again.

_The fluttering figures in the corners of his vision were there again, hovering just out of sight, menacing and terrifying. Ianto had turned and ran this time, but they followed, he couldn't get away. The darkness was rippling silently… Silently? No, there was a soft breathing, a slight rasping and the sound that a predator makes as it sits, waiting to pounce. His heart was racing again as he stared around him, trying to catch more than a glimpse of the shadows. He felt a sharp pain on his thigh and stared wildly around…_

He sat up violently, gasping for breath, a sheen of sweat covering his face. It was only seconds before Jack was in the room and kneeling on the bed, holding Ianto's face gently but firmly in his hands and making him look into his eyes. "You're okay, I'm here. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you." Jack's voice was sincere and Ianto felt his heart rate slow, giving way to uncontrollable shaking and tears pouring down his face. He flung his arms desperately around Jack and found the strong arms pressing him closer to the warm body. Ianto buried his head into the join of Jack's neck and shoulder and cried, his breathing ragged.

It wasn't until his breathing had slowed and the tears had stopped that Jack let him go and stroked his hair, pushing it off his forehead and looking deep into his eyes.

"Please… Please, don't leave me…" Ianto's voice was barely more than a whisper, but it was more than Jack needed to be convinced. The fear and terror deep in the young man's eyes were more than enough as well.

He slipped his arms out of his braces and deftly removed both his shirt and trousers and slipped under the covers alongside Ianto, pulling his shaking body down under the soft duvet. Ianto rested his head against Jack's chest and closed his eyes, listening to the constant beating of his heart, the soothing, rhythmical pounding lulling him back into sleep.

Jack simply lay there, his young lover in his arms, their legs wound together and a feeling of safety and comfort filling the room. He resolved to stay conscious, to not slip into the waking trance he'd adopted in place of sleep. He resolved to spend the night soothing Ianto when his sleeping became fitful and to whisper comforting nothings into his ear when he started to mutter under his breath, all the time his arms wrapped tightly around his body.

He sighed and closed his eyes, a feeling of grief rising up. He didn't know what Ianto was seeing, or what was happening to him in his spells of unconsciousness, but it must've been horrific to cause the man who'd been so strong merely days ago to break down like that.


	6. Chapter 6: Surprise Appearances

Well! This is where things start to get exciting! I'm thrilled with the responses to the 5th chapter (both on here and my LJ 'ierosaurus'), so thrilled that it spurred me on to try and finish this next bit for you all as soon as I could.

Boy, was this a fun one to write. It's been stewing in my mind for a while now, as the original plot I came up with had been there for about a week. Hopefully, having had more nights to lie awake and compose made the ideas better. You must all thank my new hamsters (Spike and Cosmo) for adding those extra hours of waking time to my evenings, they're really noisy!

But yes, here's chapter 6. We start to get a bit more about what's happening to Ianto, and a familiar face appears, making Jack even more nervous. Again, I'll say I had so much fun writing this one, and chapter 7 is in the works for as soon as I've done some music coursework and saxophone practice! I'll try and get 7 churned out before episode 8 airs tomorrow at 10 on BBC 3 (can't wait). So yes, please enjoy and review!

**Disclaimer**: I DO NOT own any of the fabulous characters in the story, although I wish SO much that I did. They all belong to the almighty Russel T. Davies and you should all worship him now... Though I think most of you already do!

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_Chapter 6: Surprise Appearances_

Jack was sitting in his office, a cup of coffee in his hands, the scent drifting around the room enticingly. _If there's such thing as heaven in a cup, I'm holding it. _He sighed and took a large mouthful of the hot liquid, savouring the taste. He was almost annoyed when Owen turned up expectantly at the door.

"What do you need me for now?" He wore a mock frown of disapproval as he looked at the medic, who was looking rather concerned. He put the coffee down and waved him in. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, the thing is… Well, it was Tosh who noticed it first but…" Jack had never seen the man so inarticulate as he was then. He frowned slightly, sincerely, and wondered what was going on. "Well, it's just that when Ianto came around yesterday, it was like when you come back to life…" He trailed off and looked up at Jack nervously, as if this revelation would cause him to fly into a heated rage.

Jack just sat there and looked at Owen.

"Jack?"

"Yes, yes… I heard. And I guess you're right…" He was desperately hoping that Ianto wasn't experiencing the same pain he went through when his body regenerated… He would never want someone to go through that, especially not Ianto. His eyes darted to the hatch in the corner of his office, thinking of what lay in the sleep space below.

Ianto hadn't slept well, despite Jack's best efforts. He'd experienced another bout of the unconsciousness at around 6 in the morning. He'd only noticed because the constant moving and weak thrashing had halted for several minutes. When Ianto had surfaced, the now familiar look of fear was haunting his eyes. He'd been pale and sweating and the shaking had started almost immediately, his temperature spiking. Jack knew he couldn't leave him on his own in the flat, so he had decided to bring him back to the hub, to sleep in his bed whilst Jack worked above him.

Ianto had protested and rejected the thought of having to sleep all day, but had allowed Jack to put some thick socks and a hoody on him, leading him by the hand to his car and driving him to the hub. When they'd arrived, Owen was already in there, setting up the files he had to work through. He took one look at Ianto and then rushed to help Jack settle him in his office. When he'd helped support Ianto down through the hatch, he'd disappeared from Jack's office. When Jack surfaced again, he found Owen coming towards him with a glass of water and 3 white pills in his hand. Without a word, he'd pushed them into Jack's hands and left the office again.

It had taken 15 minutes to calm Ianto down enough to make him take the sleeping pills. The thought of being unable to escape the dreams had brought the fear back. The look in his stormy blue eyes had almost brought Jack to the edge of crying. He couldn't bare to see the pain in Ianto's eyes. The crying and yelling that had occurred over the last hour rang through his mind as he lay down next to Ianto's shaking figure and wrapped an arm across him, trying to keep him safe. 10 minutes later, Ianto was limp and still, as if he were dead.

Taking one last, wistful look at him, Jack had decided to get his work done.

Owen looked at him expectantly. Jack had almost forgotten he was there.

"Do you think there's something more than sleep deprivation going on?" Jack stared intently at the medics face, trying to read any subliminal message from the expression.

"I don't know… Did he pass out more than once yesterday?" Jack wasn't sure what would come of it, but for the sake of Ianto, he told him as much as he could remember.

"Yesterday morning, in his office, it was like he'd just dropped asleep. His pen fell out of his hand and he slumped forwards, waking up a moment or two later." His brow furrowed as he tried to remember the events of the past 24 hours. "Then there was yesterday evening, when he was out for just less than a minute. I think it happened twice last night. Once around about midnight, although I'm not sure how long it lasted, and once around 6 this morning. That one was about 5 minutes long."

The two men sat in silence for a long moment.

"Is there anything else? Apart from the unconsciousness and fever I mean." Owen had slipped into medical investigator mode, which comforted Jack as he knew how competent Owen was when he was on a case.

"I'm not sure… I noticed a cut on the back of his left forearm last night when he was getting ready for bed… I don't think I was there yesterday morning, and it doesn't seem like Ianto to be clumsy enough to hurt himself whilst filling out paperwork." Jack sat thoughtfully for a minute before jumping up to walk out of his office, Owen following. He looked around and saw Tosh sitting at her desk. He ran down the stairs, taking two at a time and skidded to a halt behind her station.

"Tosh! I need you to look up the CCTV of the Tourist Office yesterday, from when Ianto first went in." He leant down, leaning an arm on the back of Tosh's chair. She quickly called up the CCTV and set it to play. "Right, now double the speed." Jack watched intently as Ianto went about yesterday's activities at twice the speed. There had been no sign of injury yet. He hadn't even removed his jacket, let alone rolled up his sleeves. They watched him slump forwards and jerk awake and Jack's heart did a leap in his throat.

"Okay, so it wasn't then… Tosh, keep playing the CCTV, watch out for anything that could've caused a 2 inch long, horizontal cut on Ianto's left forearm." He was about to go back to his office when Gwen's voice sounded from the other side of Tosh's station.

"Left forearm? Didn't he catch himself feeding Janet the other week?" Gwen looked at Owen and he leapt into action. Jack followed him down to the autopsy bay, watching as Owen called up Ianto's file on the computer.

"THIS is why I keep track of all the injuries you guys get." He didn't need to look very far, because the last entry in Ianto's medical entry read:

-Skin wound to the mid left forearm, horizontal to the wrist. Approximately 2 inches in length. Cleaned and dressed. Obtained through the company of a non human life form in the hub (Janet). Tetanus booster updated. No further action required.-

Jack scanned the words several times and memorised the picture attached to the entry.

"Owen, do we have anything to block the sleeping pills? I think we need to have a little talk with Mr. Jones." Jack was worried. The team had learnt that if Jack was worried, they should be worried too.

* * *

Ianto woke to find himself on the autopsy table. He tried to sit up, but there were restraints across his chest and legs, holding him down in place. 

"Ianto! Ianto, it's okay, everything's fine. You're in the medical room in the hub." Jack was standing next to him, holding his right hand tightly. He looked around and saw Owen on his left side, examining the cut on his forearm. Hang on, the cut on his forearm. That had healed… hadn't it? Jack patted his leg gently to try and calm him down, but it served the opposite purpose. He yelped and struggled against the restraints again as Jack quickly withdrew his hand from Ianto's leg. Owen looked at him curiously.

"What's wrong with your leg, Ianto?" He moved round to Jack's side of the table and rolled up his trouser leg to reveal a vivid purple bruise on his right thigh, just above his knee. Owen looked at it carefully and examined the computer carefully again.

"You had that bruise last month… Remember? When Jack and Tosh were stuck in 1941… You walked into the desk…" He trailed off, wandering around the room, both Jack and Ianto staring at him. "This bruise looks as fresh as the day you got it."

Jack pulled up a chair and sat down next to Ianto, still holding his hand. Ianto was confused, but he didn't trust himself to talk.

"Ianto, are there any other cuts or bruises that you've noticed today?" Owen looked at him seriously. Ianto was rather taken aback by it.

"No." Ianto closed his eyes and tried to stop his head from spinning, and Owen immediately took this as a bad sign, tapping him sharply on the forehead. "Look, I just have a headache and a bit of the flu… I must've knocked the cut open again and walked into another table."

Jack looked at him. "No one cuts their arm in the exact same place and way twice. Especially, not a cut that big. Same with the bruise… Are you sure there's nothing else?"

Ianto shook his head. It was pounding and he wanted to sleep without being haunted. He just wanted some sleep. He felt Jack's free hand stroking his arm and desperately hoped that Owen would let him go so he could feel the warmth of Jack's body around him. He stayed still and gripped Jack's hand tightly, concentrating on thinking about nothing at all. The two men on either side of him were muttering, talking about him.

"… It's not right…"

"…Painkillers… see what happens…"

"…Dangerous?… passes out again…"

"…sleeping… find out…"

Owen seemed to want to keep him strapped down, but Jack was fighting for an element of freedom. They stayed silent for a moment before Owen tapped him on the forehead again.

"Ianto, we're going to let you go now. You're not allowed to leave the hub, and we'd prefer it if you set up camp on the sofa behind Tosh's station. That way we can all keep an eye on you." Owen was looking at him whilst deftly undoing the restraints. When they were removed, Jack helped Ianto sit up, his head spinning a little. "Right now, we're going to give you some heavy duty painkillers to sort the headache out, and we're going to give you more sleeping pills later on. We'd be overdosing your system to no effect if we gave them to you now, what with the dose an hour ago and the blockers still holding them back."

Ianto nodded slightly and took the pills Owen handed him, throwing them into his mouth and washing them down with the water in Jack's hand. He couldn't bring himself to look at Jack. The concern would be too much, he'd break down again. He already felt guilty for what was happening, as he should be helping Jack, making sure he was alright… But instead Jack was supporting him and trying to keep him safe from things neither of them understood. He sighed instead and carried on looking down at the floor. Jack's hand was still gripping his and his free hand, once more, moved around his shoulders.

"Come on, you're going to freeze to death down here." Jack's voice was soft and kind as he guided Ianto back up into the hub. His legs were shaking and his knees threatened to buckle more than once, but Jack was there every time, keeping him upright. He let Jack sit him down on the sofa as the painkillers started to sink in, dulling his senses a little, but soothing the throbbing pain in his head. He swayed a little on the spot, but didn't fall. After checking the Ianto could deal with sitting upright for a few moments, Jack disappeared off into his office.

He returned within a few minutes, his arms full of the bedding from his sleep space. He sat down on the sofa to the right of Ianto and let him lie down, resting his head in his lap. Once Ianto was settled, he draped the duvet over him and started stroking his hair gently.

It only took a minute or so for Ianto to drift off into another uneasy sleep. When Jack was sure the young man was out of it, he sighed heavily and looked up at the ceiling. Gwen was coming over from the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hand. He smiled as she handed it to him and seated herself in a chair next to Tosh, then took a large mouthful. It wasn't as good as Ianto's, but it was better than nothing.

"What's happening to him?" Tosh's voice was quiet, her face filled with worry. Jack just shrugged and sighed again.

"Owen's going to draw some blood later, once the sleeping pills and the blocker are out of him system. It'll take a day or so for that to be analysed, and hopefully there'll be nothing in there." He looked accusingly at the women in front of him. "Have you guys been dealing anything creepy and weird recently?"

Gwen snorted and shook her head. "Apart from the usual, no, nothing. He was really settling into all his new jobs around the place… I can't believe we didn't give him more responsibilities sooner. He's a real sweetheart about everything and he's a better worker than most of us." She looked down at Ianto, a motherly affection in her eyes. Jack looked down too, his left hand resting on Ianto's shoulder, softly rising and falling with his breathing. It was comforting to know that he was still alive in whatever dream he was enduring.

The team were called on during the morning, a simple case of a strange object turning up in someone's front room. They assured Jack that they wouldn't need him, that he should stay with Ianto. Reluctantly, Jack agreed. He still hadn't moved from the sofa, guilty enjoying the feeling of Ianto's hand on his thigh, gripping it firmly, trust radiating from his touch. The team had returned an hour or so later with pizza, coffee and doughnuts in their hands.

"Hawaiian for you, Jack." Owen almost threw the box onto his lap, but remembered just in time, putting it on the coffee table in front of him before following the others into the kitchen to get plates. He was all too aware of what Ianto would do if they got melted cheese on any of the chairs.

Leaning forwards gingerly, Jack knocked the lid open and pulled a slice out, taking a bite and sighing appreciatively. He felt the beginnings of a squirm under his stationary left hand and wasn't surprised when a hand reached out from under the duvet and retrieved a piece of pizza for itself. Jack smiled and looked down, Ianto hungrily chomping on his prize. Jack put the back of his hand to Ianto's forehead and was pleased to feel it had cooled down from earlier in the day. He laughed as the hand snaked out again and pulled another slice of pizza under the duvet, Ianto busying himself with the second piece.

Owen walked back to Tosh's station and dropped into her chair, sliding over the floor to hand Jack a Starbucks coffee, placing his doughnut next to his pizza. He hadn't noticed the noises coming from under the duvet, as the last time he'd seen Jack, the cover was completely obscuring the young man's head.

"So, anything happened here?" Owen was bored, there hadn't been anything to dissect on the trip and he felt like the rift was abandoning him. "I mean, any more fits or unconsciousness?"

Jack shook his head, his mouth still full of cheese, ham and pineapple. Swallowing, he took a mouthful of the coffee and looked down at Ianto. "No, he's just been sleeping. A couple of bad dreams I think, but nothing worse than that."

They both looked up as Gwen and Tosh walked in, carrying more coffee and food. Gwen put the plate of doughnuts on the table and pulled up a chair as Tosh put down her plates of pizza and dropped into the chair beside Owen. They started to brief Jack on what had happened when Owen shouted in alarm.

"What was that?!" He'd sat upright and spilled some of his coffee on his shirt. He'd seen Ianto's arm snake out for the third time and withdraw with a doughnut in its grasp. Jack just looked at his face and laughed. Loudly. The indignation on Owen's face only served to make him laugh harder. It wasn't until he felt a soft poking on his leg that he stopped and looked down.

"Shhh…" The sleepy tones of Ianto's voice drifted out from under the duvet, slightly muffled. Jack replaced his hand on Ianto's shoulder in apology and settled a smile on his face, a glint of amusement in his eyes at Owen's still glowering face.

The team finished up their lunch with a healthy dose of idle small talk and went back to their stations, the mood lifting at the knowledge of Ianto's appetite still being there and the fact that he hadn't passed out again.

Jack remained happily on the sofa, Ianto's head still in his lap, relief flooding him as Owen declared that he wouldn't need to administer any more sleeping pills. He spent the afternoon reading files and completing paperwork handed to him various members of the team, occasionally talking to Ianto if he woke up.

When Tosh exclaimed loudly from her station, Jack looked up curiously, the other two making their way around. She pointed at the object sitting on her desk and looked at Jack.

"It's a holographic replay system, like the one built into your wrist strap." They all looked down at the leather band before looking back at Tosh. "It seems to have something saved on it… If I press _this_ button… and this one here, then-"

Her words were cut off as the image of a man's head formed in fuzzy blue lights above the small cylindrical device. Jack recognised the smug grin immediately.

"Hi, Jack! Thought I'd let you know that I got back in one piece, knew you'd pick this up somewhere… You ARE a scavenger after all. Honestly, I can't believe you're happy with sitting on that rock and picking up all our junk! We could've had the universe, Jack!" Jack got the impression of hands being flung up into the air as the hologram sighed and shook its head. "Just one thing before I go… Has it started yet?"

The eyes twinkled and the mouth twisted evilly before the entire thing blinked out and the device beeped. Jack just stared at it.


	7. Chapter 7: Recognition

Right, so... I thought about merging Chapter 8 in with this one, but I thought I'd let you all stew a little bit for more action! I know I said it would be primarily Ianto's POV, but for some reason, I find it more intriguing to write in Jack's POV, making him react to things the way I think he should be doing, especially when it comes to Ianto! We'll get some proper Ianto POV sometime in the forseeable future, so those of you who like the inner workings of Ianto's wonderful brain, stick with it!

I expect that I'll be doing Ianto POV drabbles every so often whilst I'm in the Jack POV phase of this story, just to keep me sane... I'll probably be doing drabbles of things I really want to do, but I know won't fit well into 'And So It Begins... Again' ... Like my '10 Ways Ianto Jones Got His Own Back' for a little bit of Gwen Bashing... she's practically a Mary-Sue at the moment, and it's doing my head in!! grrrrrr..

But yeees, thanks to **_EVERYONE_** who's been reading so far, and please, please, PLEASE keep reading and reviewing! It really gives me something to look forward to when school is getting annoying and so on!

**Disclaimer**: I sadly do not own any of the characters, but I like to play with them and make them do pretty things (like the cute Ianto and Jack image from chapter 6, on the sofa), and I shall return them to Russel T. Davies just as soon as we know what's wrong with Ianto and how Jack's going to make it all better.

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_Chapter 7: Recognition_

John Hart.

Jack was still staring at the space where his head had been bobbing. Gwen, Tosh and Owen were staring at him, mouths open. All questions were stopped dead in there tracks as the team saw the look of pure fury on Jack's face. He gently lifted Ianto's head off his lap and stood up, covering his neck again to make sure the young man didn't get cold whilst he slept, and he walked to his office.

He sat down at his computer and opened up the file he'd compiled on John. He had DNA samples. That was all he needed to find him.

"OWEN!" The man jumped as Jack leant out of his office and roared across the hub, and quickly walked round and up the stairs to prevent Jack from yelling again, quite sure that it wasn't going to help Ianto to have Jack screaming for the rest of the afternoon. "Owen! Make me up a syringe of John's DNA."

Owen looked nervously at his captain but was met with a steely determination. He didn't argue, just hurried off to the autopsy room to make up a phial of DNA. Tosh and Gwen watched the whole scene nervously, and both decided they had better stay with Ianto, to make sure he didn't pass out again whilst Jack was on his rampage. Gwen knelt down by Ianto and made sure Jack's outburst hadn't disturbed him. His features were pulled into an unsettled frown, his mouth silently shaping words. At that moment, Gwen felt like his mother, wanting him to get better soon, to be alright again. She sighed and moved away, knowing there was nothing anyone could do to make him better. At least, anyone apart from Jack. She had the sneaking suspicion that Jack held the key to sorting this whole mess out.

She looked up at Jack's office and saw him pacing around inside. She was distracted as Owen rushed past her, a needle full of pinkish liquid in his hand. "Make way, mad scientist coming through."

He took the stairs two at a time and hurried into Jack's office, handing him the syringe and watching as Jack hurriedly injected it into a small machine on his desk. Jack saw the inquisitive look on his face and decided he should explain.

"I can track The Doctor using a DNA recognition hardware. The Doctor's tells me when he's within a certain range, so I'm using the same hardware to tell me if the source of this DNA turns up." He dropped the empty needle on the desk and looked at the device in front of him, a faint glow radiating from some glyphs running down the left hand side of it, a screen taking up most of the surface. "Give it a min-"

A shriek from Tosh made both men leap from the office and stare wildly around the hub, half expecting an intruder. Jack's eyes fell on the sofa with Ianto lying on it. The duvet had been ripped back and it showed him with cuts and bruises on his face, blood oozing from his nose.

He leapt down the stairs, almost falling as he hit the floor, skidding on his knees to Ianto's side. He'd passed out again in his sleep and there was no real way to tell how long he'd been down this time, just that it had happened sometime after Jack had left him.

Owen swore violently as he came up behind him, drawing up Ianto's medical records on Tosh's computer screen. Surely enough, the entry before the bruised leg were the facial injuries obtained on their trip with the cannibal village in the country.

"The wounds are getting further back in time…" He was musing out loud, wondering what was going on. Jack wasn't paying any attention, just watching Ianto's face, stroking his hair, willing him to wake up. "If he doesn't get a chance to heal the ones he has… If they start coming too regularly… They'll just keep piling up…"

A shocked silence filled the hub and all eyes were on Ianto. The minutes crawled by, maddeningly slowly, until, with a loud gasping sound, Ianto woke up again. The fear was back, stronger than it had been before. He sat up, clutching at the back of the sofa and at Jack's shoulder, gulping down the air as if he hadn't tasted oxygen in a lifetime.

He pushed violently against Jack, struggling to stand up, but Jack was too strong for him. He gripped his arms tightly and held him in place, battling against Ianto's strangely powerful body. Jack's hand slipped and Ianto got an arm free, darting for the doorway. Jack lunged at him and gripped him round the waist. Ianto was still struggling, but his thrashing was weaker now. Jack pulled him sharply around to face him, moving his hand from Ianto's arm to his face, forcing his eyes to look back. He felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he looked into Ianto's empty eyes, hollow of all emotion except a toxic, overwhelming fear.

He ran his thumb over Ianto's cheek and carried on looking straight at him.

"Ianto…" At the sound of his name, Ianto seemed to be jerked out of his trance and his eyes, although still haunted by fear, contained the spark that made him Ianto Jones. Tears were spilling silently over his cheeks as he looked at Jack.

"Please… Make it stop…" His voice was barely more than a whisper as his knees buckled and he started to sink to the floor, Jack following with his arms keeping Ianto as close to himself as he could. They sat silently on the floor, swaying backwards and forwards, Jack feeling his own tears running down his face. He had to make this stop.

The team stood at a respectful distance for a few minutes before Owen went over and crouched down, putting his hand on Jack's shoulder and grimacing in sympathy. "Jack, we need to take a blood sample… We need to find out what John did to him."

Jack turned his head slightly and nodded in agreement, moving his arms a little to hook them under Ianto's arms and pull him to his feet. He felt a hand grip tightly to the front of his shirt and the tears that had stopped were threatening to return. He just carried on pulling Ianto up and the young man rested his head on Jack's shoulder as the three of them moved down to the autopsy room, Gwen and Tosh following.

* * *

Owen had propped the table up into a seated position and between them, they'd managed to get Ianto sitting down, still gripping onto Jack tightly, still crying silently. It was the most gentle Owen had been for a very long time, conscious throughout the entire procedure of how badly Ianto had been affected by whatever was hurting him. He'd drawn the blood and organised it into samples and was currently doing a preliminary scan of them. Sighing heavily, he swivelled round on his chair and looked at Jack, rubbing his chin. 

"There's nothing unusual at the moment, apart from a trace of the sleeping pills, the blocker and the pain killers." He looked stumped to Jack… and he was. Owen, the mastermind medic, had come up against something he'd not seen before, but the light of challenge flashed in his eyes and he wheeled over to Ianto, checking his now closed eyes and reading off vital signs again. "There's nothing unusual there either… But maybe I should give him another dose of sleeping pills, until I know what it is."

Jack looked up, his eyes still a little red and swollen. "Will it stop the… the passing out?" He didn't really know what to call it. They were almost seizures… but not quite. It was more like he was slipping between two dimensions.

Owen shrugged. "Who knows? But having him sleeping on the sofa again is the safest place for him… I can keep him hooked up to monitors, and I can monitor his brain patterns as he sleeps. I may be able to find something." The both looked at Ianto, who's head was shaking from side to side.

"No…" His voice was harsh and sounded unused. "No… I don't want to sleep… I don't want to see them again…"

Jack sat down next to him and started to stroke his hair. "See what, Ianto? What's going on with you, huh?" His tone was soft and encouraging, but it triggered more tears to fall from Ianto's closed eyes.

"I don't want to see them… I don't want to go back there…" His shoulders started to shake as he started to sob. "Jack… Please make it stop…"

Jack hung his head, trying to stop himself looking at Ianto. He couldn't bare to see him like this, so broken and helpless. "Listen, mate, it's the only thing we can do… The sleeping pills should knock you right out… The only other thing would be to put you under a general anaesthetic, but that could be too dangerous, and we wouldn't be able to keep it up for long." Owen came over and put his hand on Ianto's shoulder. "We have to do this. The sooner we do this the sooner we can get the whole thing sorted out and over with."

He squeezed Ianto's shoulder a little and waited for a reply. After a few moments, he nodded, a slow, short dip of his head and then returned it to resting on the head board. Owen immediately turned around to get the pills and Jack looked up, his eyes moving to Ianto's face. He was surprised to see Ianto looking back at him, a resigned look on his face. He moved forwards and kissed the young man gently on the lips, for a long, comforting moment, before pulling away reluctantly and letting Owen give him the sleeping pills. Ianto knocked them back then swung his legs off the chair, looking at Jack for reassurance.

For the second time that day, Jack moved his arm around Ianto's shoulders and supported him through the hub and onto the sofa behind Tosh. He put a pillow at one end and made Ianto lie down, covering him with the duvet again before kneeling down and kissing him on the forehead. Ianto's hand gripped onto the front of Jack's shirt again and willed him to stay there. He knelt by the sofa, stroking Ianto's hair and whispering comforting nothings to him until the hand holding his shirt went limp and Ianto was fully asleep. Gently removing the hand and tucking it back under the duvet, Jack stood up, straight backed, and walked to his office, slamming the door behind him.

He went and sat at his desk, pushing all paperwork to the side, and stared at the pulsating object on his desk. Resting his elbows on the desk, he arched his fingers and resigned himself to the wait.

If he knew John, and he liked to think he did, he'd be turning up to take a look at his handiwork.

Outside the office, Tosh was watching over Ianto, ignoring the worried looks of Gwen and Owen from the other side of the hub. She went over and tucked his hand back up under the duvet, as it had slipped free almost as soon as Jack had settled into his office. Smoothing the covers out over him, she sighed and turned away, finishing the report on the hologram replay device.


	8. Chapter 8: Enlightenment

YAAAAAY! I'm currently sitting and (finally) watching 'A Day In The Death' and loving it. Granted, I'm still in the mood for Gwen Bashing cos the more I think about it, the more I realise she's unbelievably Mary-Sue-ish... how annoying that the writer's have made that mistake?! But yes, calm... zeeeeeen...

I put up Chapter 7 and felt that I needed to write the next section. So I did, then I slept on it, and here we are, two chapter in the space of 12 hours.

I had fun writing this one, so please enjoy it!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the amazing characters below, and I never plan on using a character that doesn't belong to Russel T. Davies in this story, so yeah... Just coming up with more creative ways to say the same thing every chapter!

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_Chapter 8: Enlightenment_

Jack was still sitting in his office, still staring at the object sitting on his desk. The pulsating lights were slightly hypnotic, flashing and whirring gently as the scanned the surrounding area for any sign of the DNA's origin. No such luck. Jack sighed and tapped his foot on the floor. Ianto would normally bring him a coffee around about now. It was getting pretty late on in the day, and he normally had a jam doughnut and a cup coffee to tide him over for the next hour or so before the Chinese or the pizzas came.

He was remembering all the good cups of coffee he had enjoyed at around this time when a knock on the door came, a gentle smell of roasted coffee beans drifting through the small gap in the door as it was pushed open. For one fleeting moment, he thought he saw Ianto, his boyish grin revealing itself as it so rarely did in the hub. All hopes were crushed a moment later as Tosh came through the door holding a paper Starbucks cup. She looked a little hurt at the deflated look on his face.

"Oh! No, Tosh, don't worry, please, that wasn't directed at you!" He smiled, took the coffee from her and gestured to the seat on the other side of his desk. He propped his feet up on the surface and took a mouthful of the coffee. It was good, but it had zero personality. "I just… I thought you were Ianto for a moment, that's all."

"Jack… Owen will find out what's wrong, he always does." Tosh smiled comfortingly and Jack was happy she was there. She had a naturally calming presence, and he'd always enjoyed being in her company on a particularly stressful day. "Besides, you seem to think John will turn up sometime soon, so I'm sure you can him to straighten everything out."

She was trying her best to help but Jack just shook his head. "The fact that I think he's coming back isn't a good omen for Ianto… John will relish in his suffering and try to push him out of the picture for good." He placed a hand on the desk and looked directly at Tosh. "We can't let that happen. If anything even remotely suspicious happens, I want to know. Anybody gets killed in an unusual way, thrown off a building, stabbed with a sword, I want to know about it, understood?"

His voice was stern and his eyes mirrored it evenly. Tosh simply nodded and stood up. "Don't worry Jack, we'll get to the bottom of this… You'll see." She smiled briefly and left the room, pulling the door to behind her. Jack finished his coffee and followed, pocketing the device to track John. He wanted to see how Ianto was getting on but a sudden, irrational fear struck him. Forcing himself to move forwards, he walked around the hub and down to Tosh's station and the sofa behind it.

He looked at Ianto and smiled grimly. He had a frown on his face and there were the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes, despite the amount of sleep he'd gotten over the past day. Jack stroked his hair gently again, kissed him for a second time on the forehead and sighed before reluctantly moving away to find Owen.

As per usual, the doctor was down in the autopsy room, dealing with the slides he'd made up of Ianto's blood. Leaning on the rail at the top of the room, he looked down at the computer screens. He would always be in awe of Owen's ability to read the graphs and decipher them as meaningful information. Owen seemed to sense Jack there and looked up.

"I'm just running some more tests, but I still can't find anything unusual. There's no drugs or pathogens in his system apart form a little bit of the common cold." Owen scratched his head and sighed. They'd all been sighing a lot that day.

"Well, you can go home now if you want. You should all go and get some rest… We may have another stressful day tomorrow." Jack rubbed his eyes with one of his hands and blinked a few times, ruffling his hair as he did so, letting it flop back over his face. When he looked back at Owen, his face was covered in incredulity.

"Jack, you can't be serious. I'm not leaving you and Ianto in the hub on your own… And for some reason, I get the feeling that the girls won't either." He frowned. "We're in this as a team… Besides, what if he passes out again? I need to be able to treat any injuries that may come up as soon as I can." Jack looked at him, nodded and left the room, returning to stand in the hub with his hands on the top of his head, looking around.

Tosh was at her station, stealing glances at Ianto every so often to check he was okay, Ianto was deep in a troubled sleep that he couldn't come out of and Owen was in the autopsy room. Gwen, however, was missing.

His pocket was starting to make a strange humming noise and he jumped, his heart in his throat. Before he could claw the device out, the warning siren went off to alert the team to the door being opened. Gwen was storming towards him, an extremely angry look on her face. Jack barely had time to form the first syllable of a question when his answer came.

Framed in the middle of the doorway was a man standing with his feet planted slightly apart, his arms folded across his chest and an exceedingly smug look on his face.

Jack roared, the fury from earlier rekindling in his eyes, and lunged at the new figure in the hub. His fist connected loudly with the man's jaw and he went sprawling to the floor. Without skipping a beat, he took Jack's legs out from under him and pinned him down on the floor, grinning like a shark.

"Well hello again, Jack! What a pleasant surprise." His eyes bored into Jack's, but he was impervious to any hints of sexuality from the man as the memories of Ianto's haunted face flickered in front of him. He growled and flipped them over, using his weight as an advantage to get the better of the smaller man.

"What have you done to him?!" He lifted John's shoulders a little and slammed them hard into the floor, causing him to wheeze slightly as he dared Jack to do it again, the blood in his mouth from Jack's right hook to the jaw was making his voice a little crackly, so he swallowed audibly.

"I slipped him a little present… didn't he like it?" His eyes glittered ominously, but Jack was too quick. His hand darted down to the sword at John's waist and he ripped it from the scabbard, holding it to John's neck, nicking the skin a little and watching a bead of blood spring from the soft skin under the cold metal.

"Tell me what you've done, you bastard." Jack's voice was low and menacing. There was a flicker of fear in John's eyes before it vanished and the smirk returned.

"Now, now, Jack… Temper! You can't cut my throat before I tell you how to help eye-candy… You know that." Jack cursed himself silently, but continued to press the blade against the flesh of John's neck. He didn't want him thinking he was right. He wanted to keep just enough doubt in his mind to make him tell all. He watched carefully for a flicker in the man's eyes and felt a thrill of triumph as he saw it again. John gulped and his smirk slipped.

"Okay! Okay…" His voice was hoarse from the weight of the blade on his skin and the tension in his muscles as he tried to stop any more blood from being drawn. "You know what it is already Jack… We used to call it John's Little Helper… remember that, Jack? When we interrogated people?!"

Jack was watching for any sign of a lie, which was dangerous ground for John, as he lied at every possible opportunity without batting an eyelid. "If you're lying to me… I swear, if one word from your mouth then wasn't the truth…" He pushed the blade a little harder, cutting the skin lightly, making John yelp in surprise. The fear was there.

"How do I stop it…?" His voice was still low, still as menacing as before. John had never seen him like this… eye-candy must be something special to provoke this kind of reaction in him.

"Were we really so long ago that you've forgotten?" John took advantage of Jack's momentary slip in concentration to reach down and pull one of his many handguns to Jack's head. "Now, drop the sword, and I won't shoot."

Jack grinned then and held the sword firm. "Was your little visit really so long ago that you've forgotten?" John's face flashed with annoyance as he pulled the trigger and the bullet flew like an angry hornet through Jack's head, a sickening crunch echoing out to the team as his skull cracked.

He was dead within the second, slumping onto John like a dead weight. He felt the air forced out of him and he found himself completely immobile, unable to move Jack's weight off himself with one arm stuck out to the side, holding the gun, and the other trapped between the two torsos. He just rolled his eyes as Gwen and Owen, both holding guns, moved towards him.

"Bloody brilliant…"

* * *

Jack woke with a start, gasping for breath and sitting up violently. He'd been laid out on the floor near Ianto's sofa with a pillow under his head to stop any accident head bashing occurring when he woke up. Tosh was immediately at his side, helping him to his feet. 

"Ianto's safe, still asleep." He didn't even need to ask the question, gripping her arm in response. "And John's in the cells. Gwen's threatening him with Janet, I think… Owen's just there to make sure he doesn't try any funny business again."

Jack nodded in approval, stole a quick glance at Ianto's sleeping body then ran down to the cells, swinging into the room in his usual cavalier style. Moving in front of the Perspex door, he stood in the same stance as John had in the doorway and looked in on the man who was sulking in the corner.

"Can't die, remember?" He raised his eyebrows as John sneered and turned away. "You better tell me every single thing you remember about cleaning out that drug, and you better tell me fast. If Ianto slips just one more time, you'll wish you'd never been born."

John looked up and rolled his eyes. "Always the hero, 'eh Jack? Ever let Owen take the glory? Or eye-candy for that matter? When was the last time you sat back and let your team take the wheel?" John had moved right up to the door and was mirroring Jack.

"This morning, as a matter of fact." Jack replied coolly, his eyes challenging John the entire time. "Now, stop playing games. How do I stop this thing from effecting Ianto?"

John was grinning like a shark again. "It wears out on it's own accord. It enters the blood and settles in the brain, being used up as the body tries to get rid of it. As it's used, it triggers unconsciousness with hallucinations that mirror all the fear ever felt in the person's life, starting with the most recent and working backwards. The further back it goes, the longer the person is unconscious. You know you're nearing the end of the supply in the blood stream when the person goes into a coma."

Alarm was flickering in Jack's face as he dared not believe what he was hearing. "And the injuries?"

"The injuries that occurred when the fear was present reoccur, giving the person a lasting reminder of the fear they felt… Mind you, the memories of the phantoms are usually enough to make a person confess." John stood back and thought for a while in mock sincerity. "You know, if we used it as a torture aid, we'd need to have an antidote for when they broke… It's all well and good to break down the minds of the people, but you need to stop the hallucinations eventually, to question them and so on…"

John looked up, one arm folded across his chest, holding the other elbow, supporting the hand holding his chin as he looked at Jack. Jack stared back, arms crossed, angry visible in every movement of his body. "What would I have to do to for you to get me this antidote? Enlighten me."

John was silent for several minutes, just staring into Jack's eyes._ That grin is really getting on my nerves… _Jack's mind was starting to fill up the silence on it's own when John spoke again.

"One more chance to make you change your mind." John's eyes were so sincere, it almost made Jack laugh. There wasn't a sign of falsehood in his face as he uttered that last sentence. It was that which made Jack more scared than he'd been all day.


	9. Chapter 9: Assurances and Bargins

WOW! Was this ever a hard chapter to write! I must say, I debated with myself over what I should write, and how much I should try to fit into it.. I think I made all the right calls, and hopefully there'll be more ideas to use later on in the sotry, so more chapters/updates for you guys. Again, I want to thank every single one of you who's commented and reviewed the chapters so far. It never would've evolved so much if I didn't know people out there were reading it! So I guess this one's dedicated to all you Jack/Ianto fans out there who think they make a cute couple.

I thought you may like to know that Chapter 10 is currently half written, and will be going up in an hour or so (hopefully) depending on how long it takes me to finish writing it. Enjoy this one whilst you wait, and please keep reviewing!

**Disclaimer**: Sadly, I do not own any of the characters, but I like to play with them and I will return them to Russel T. Davies when I'm bored with them... which may not be for a while!

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_Chapter 9: Assurances and Bargins_

Jack stared at John for a long moment before spinning on his heels and exiting the room. He had to get away from him, he couldn't stand the tension any longer. He stormed up into the hub and went over to look at Ianto. He stood and watched him quietly, thinking hard as to what he should do.

He wanted so much to lie down next to him and hold him close, but he knew he couldn't disturb him. He just stood there and watched as Ianto's eyelids fluttered in the forced sleep. He looked so small under the bulky duvet, so child like and fragile. He noticed Owen coming towards him and quickly looked up, searching for the two women.

"What did he say?" Owen stood a few feet away and folded his arms, looking from Ianto to Jack and back again. "Did he tell you how to stop it?"

Jack shook his head and sighed, turning away from Ianto completely to face Owen and recounting all he'd been told about the drug's effects. "There's an antidote for it." He rubbed his eyes, trying to phrase the following part of his news. He looked up to see the hope in Owen's expression and sighed again. "He won't give it to me unless… Unless I give him a chance to change my mind."

Owen looked puzzled, his hands moving to his hips as he cocked his head slightly at Jack, who ruffled his hair with both hands and made a frustrated noise as he tried his best to rework what he meant. "He wants to prove that I would be happier away from here… With him."

He made another frustrated noise, rolling his sleeves up past his elbows and turning back to look at Ianto. "I need to talk to him, Owen… I'm not making a decision without him." Owen shook his head.

"I can't do that, Jack. Any more blocker within 24 hours of the last dose and his brains will be mush for a week…" Owen walked over and patted him on the back. "Jack, this is your decision. Either we let Ianto continue sleeping, risking any past injuries that will come up, and break John down for the antidote." He looked seriously at Jack. "Or, you can do what John wants you to do and stop Ianto from having to go through any more hell…"

Owen left the question open and walked away, hands in pockets, leaving Jack chewing on his lip and staring at Ianto's troubled face. Suddenly, he twisted around and made his way back down to the cells and faced John. He stood up and smirked at Jack, knowing exactly what was coming.

"What do you think you can do to change my mind?" Jack stood there, stony faced and livid as he watched John's face light up completely. His eyes glittered and his teeth were as white as ever as he grinned. Letting out a short laugh, he came up to the Perspex and leant against the door.

"Well… For a start, let me out of here and introduce me to your lovely team-mates…" His eyes flashed. "Including eye-candy." The challenge hung in the air between them for a moment before Jack unlocked the cell and allowed John to come out. However, he placed a hand on his chest and stopped him in his tracks.

"I need those throwing knives you have tucked in you underpants first." John growled a little before reluctantly pulling the daggers from his trousers and placing them in John's outstretched hand.

"I figured you would've trusted your team to have stripped my weapons from me." The innuendo hung silently as he smiled sweetly at Jack, who just sneered at him.

"They don't know you as well as I do." He removed his hand from John's chest and let him out of the cell, standing behind him and allowing him to make his way through the hub. He was chattering away carelessly, seemingly happy with the devastation he'd caused to Jack's world. They made their way through the corridors and up into the main workspace, John exclaiming in pleasure as he looked up to heights of the ceiling and the pterodactyl circling the water tower.

"I honestly never thought I'd get to see this place again!" He turned to Jack and kissed him hard on the mouth, pulling back and grinning at the look of disgust on his features. "Now, come on… introduce me properly!" Jack pushed him in the small of the back and made him walk in front of him round to the desks. Tosh looked up, alarmed, and Gwen looked up sharply and opened her mouth to object loudly. Jack silenced her with a look of pure venom and then ignored her. He was about to do the introductions to everyone when he noticed John kneeling down by Ianto, looking at him with a curious expression on his face.

"He looks different to how I remembered him…" He looked up when he saw Jack's feet move next to him.

"Fear and terror do things to a person's face…" His voice was hollow as he too looked down at Ianto, ignoring John.

"I'm guessing you don't want him to suffer that for much longer… correct?" He looked up at Jack and his eyes were glittering menacingly again. "Shall we skip the niceties?"

Jack reluctantly ripped his gaze away from his lover's face and met John's stare. He nodded sharply and moved off towards his office, John instinctively following him around the base. He held the door open and John carried on through into the room, taking a seat in the chair in front of Jack's desk. Jack closed the door, locked it securely and took a place in his desk chair. He looked at John and felt a little uneasy. What was John going to ask of him?

"I'm not going to do anything we've never done in the past…" John's voice was suddenly business like as he looked Jack hard in the eyes. "One night. That's all I need to change your mind about everything." Jack leaned back in his chair a little more and looked thoughtfully back at John, considering the proposition.

"Do I get time to consider it? Thinking time, as it were." John studied his finger nails and looked up after a moment, nodding.

"Sure… You get 24 hours." He smiled then pointed at the sofa pushed into the corner of the room. "I'll set up bed in here then. Come find me when you've sorted things out, I'm knackered from the trip!"

Jack stood up and flung the door open, walking round to the others, his eyes automatically flicking to Ianto's face. He felt his heart sink a little as Ianto continued to sleep involuntarily. He felt guilty for forcing this onto him, but he couldn't see any other option. He was about to kneel down when John stuck his head around the office door, the wolfish grin back on his face.

"The sleeping pills won't work, by the way! They won't prevent the attacks happening!" His tone was almost gleeful at the look of horror on Gwen's face and the small gasp that Tosh let escape. Owen swore violently and kicked the wall. Jack just closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

He gingerly pulled back the duvet from the young man's body and straightened him out. He lifted his t-shirt and checked his torso for any new injuries, finding none. Not allowing himself to feel any relief, he rolled up the legs of Ianto's pyjamas and checked the skin underneath, again finding nothing. He leant his elbow on the edge of the sofa and rested his forehead in his hand, unsure of what to do. As if to make up his mind for him, a small patch of blood starting to soak through the dark material of the t-shirt. Jack pulled it up again to see a long, deep gash across Ianto's stomach appear before his eyes, deepening every second until it was pouring blood. Another was opening next to it, a little higher up.

Jack and Owen swore violently as the second gash grew to the same depth as the first, pouring out the same copious amount of blood. Scooping Ianto up, Jack carried him down to the autopsy bay, following Owen. They lay him down on the table and fastened the restraints for when he woke up.

Working quickly, Owen stitched and cleaned the wounds, more supplies at the ready in case any more wounds decided to open up again. Jack started to hook him up to the monitors, making sure he had a steady heartbeat before turning back to look at him. There were a few moments of frail hope before another gash opened up, this time on his upper leg, deep in his thigh. Owen swore fluently and treated the new wound. They both held their breath and waited. No more cuts appeared and Owen let his breath out loudly.

It was premature. A sudden, manic beeping made Jack's heart stop. He looked, wide eyed, at Ianto, trying to find the new injury, not seeing anything on his chest or legs to be causing it. He couldn't see anything…

Wait.

He looked down at the floor and he felt the bottom of his stomach fall from it's place. There was a growing pool of blood being fed from both sides of the operating table. Time seemed to slow as Jack looked at Ianto's wrists, both hanging over the edge of the metal. There were several ragged slashes on each, blood steadily pouring out. He felt tears prickled his eyes and fall, tumbling over his cheeks. Owen noticed the source of the bleeding and hoisted Ianto's hands into the air, applying pressure to both wrists.

"GWEN! TOSH!" He bellowed, the other two running down the stairs within seconds. "Take his wrists and apply as much pressure as you can. No matter what, keep them in the air."

He handed the limp body parts over and dived for the cool cupboard, pulling out two units of Ianto's blood type, hurriedly hanging them up on a hook and inserting a central line to get the fluid into Ianto, swearing at the amount of blood still trickling over his arms. He quickly tied off the limbs with rubber strips and told Gwen to let her side down, ready to stitch up the blood vessels. After a few agonising minutes, he handed the arm back to Gwen, ordering her to apply pressure and hold it up again. Moving around to Tosh's side of the table, he repeated the process, checking the monitors for a change in Ianto's vital signs. His heart rate was starting to pick up slightly as the blood was returned to him at a snail's pace. He allowed a moment to look at Jack standing at the end of the table, his tear stained face over Ianto's, watching the young man desperately.

He waited for the monitors to show a healthier rhythm before going back to the hand Gwen was holding and pulling a chair up. He dismissed Gwen, who went to stand against the wall and observe the procedure, and pulled a light over the arm, grimacing at the state of the flesh he had to repair. Shaking his head a little, he slowly started to stitch together the skin, first with large stitches to hold it together, then with smaller ones to close up the cuts. 10 minutes later, he moved around to the other side, treating Tosh in a similar fashion, though slightly less controlling.

He began to worry about the length of the attack. Ianto had been down for much longer than any of the previous times. He stole another glance at Jack, who looked up at the exact same time, the same thought clearly visible on his face.

Owen quickly set to work fixing the second wrist and finished it slightly faster. This hand was obviously the first one Ianto had attacked, as it was a lot neater and cleaner. Sighing, he pushed himself back from the table and went to get some dressings and bandages. He placed a self adhesive gauze patch on each of the gashes on his main body and then wrapped a bandage around each wrist, keeping them tight to support the healing process even more.

Then they all sat back and waited. Millions of questions buzzing in the minds of all four people. Why? When? How? All wondering why they'd never known about it. They just waited and the minutes ticked by again. Jack looked up at the clock on the wall several minutes later still, counting how long Ianto had been unconscious. It had been over half an hour, and he was showing no signs, whatever they may be, of waking up. He sighed and stroked Ianto's cheek gently, willing him to open his eyes, wondering whether this time would be the coma.

The thoughts kept tumbling through his mind. He'd never seen the scars on Ianto's body, never noticed the gashes on his wrists. Had it been because of him? Because of Lisa? Did he do it when Jack had suspended him from work for a month? There were too many questions, and every time he thought of one, a dozen flared up in it's wake. His thoughts tumbled and catapulted through his mind, grief, fear and guilt building with every second.

About 10 minutes later, the sharp intake of breath made Jack's heart leap. Ianto was breathing raggedly, his eyes staring around wild and unseeing as Jack held his face between his hands and stopped him moving. He was crying again, both of them were.

"Ianto.. Ianto, listen to me… Please…" Ianto couldn't hear him, he just tried to sit up, gripping the edges of the bed and yelling as he tried to get free from his restraints. Owen jumped up and held his feet down as he started to hit his heels off the table. Jack just kept on holding his face, staring into his fearful blue eyes, longing to see him safe and comforted again. "Ianto! It's me, it's Jack! You're safe!"

He stopped struggling a little, his eyes flickering between recognition and fear. Eventually, they locked onto Jack's and he gazed pleadingly up at him. "I'm going to make you better… I know how to stop it all. I'm going to make it stop." Jack gritted his teeth painfully against the tears and kissed Ianto lovingly on the lips, savouring the taste like a convict savours his last meal before the noose. Smiling briefly, he let go of Ianto's cheeks and walked up through the hub, dragging Gwen with him, pushing her into his office to face John.

"Give her the antidote, watch her leave then lock the door." Jack's voice was a monotone as he tried to control the emotions raging inside him. "You can have your chance."


	10. Chapter 10: Forgiveness

I just read all of your comments for chapter 9 and I was thinking "Wait... what did I write, what happens, what happens?!?" and I got just a tad worried... I remembered a second or two later that I'd already written chapter 10. Then I smiled as you lot seem really into this and it makes me happy! And aslo that you have no idea what the storyline is evolving into in my head (as even I don't know sometimes) and I'm at the point where coming up with new ideas is like watching a new episode of Torchwood on TV!

Secondly, I was looking at the title and trying to work out what it meant. Originally, it referred to something that was going to happen (and may be re-fed into the story), but right now.. I'm going to say it refers to Jack and Ianto's relationship... but that's a ghey thing to refer it to, so I'm going to have to come up with something else!

So yes, onto the story!

**Disclaimer:** I sadly do not own any of the characters... But one day, I may buy the copyright to them off Russel T. Davies and have them all for myself... Or not

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_Chapter 10: Forgiveness_

John smiled and nodded, reaching deep into his trousers and pulling out a metal and glass phial containing a violently turquoise liquid. He held it out for Gwen to take without looking at her, his eyes fixed on Jack with a lusting hunger in them. Gwen snatched it and ran from the room, heading straight down to the autopsy bay. John slowly moved to the door and clicked the lock shut with a heavy moment of fate about it. Then he moved close to Jack and looked at him, as though for the first time.

Jack grabbed his face in his hands and brought it close to his, keeping their lips a tantalising distance from each other. He looked down into John's eyes and kissed him hard, biting his lip and drawing blood. John grinned into the kiss and attacked Jack with the same animal lust as Jack had begun with. John slammed Jack against the wall and started to undo his shirt, slipping the suspenders from his shoulders, and pulled out of the violent kiss to look at him with adventure in his eyes.

Jack took the opportunity to push John away and force him down onto the sofa. Jack knelt on the sofa, straddling John, and kissed him again. Less violently, but with as much distaste as he could manage. John moved his hands to the buttons on Jack's shirt again, slowly undoing them. Jack reached into the back of his trouser waistband and quickly moved his hand around, slamming the cuffs shut around John's wrists. He gave one more pulse into the vicious kiss before pulling back, his eyes lit with triumph as John's face fell in shock and anger to the metal around his wrists. Jack pulled his gun with one hand and pointed it straight between John's eyes, touching the intercom in his ear piece and opening a channel.

"Gwen, Tosh… Come to my office and bring your hand guns. Owen, how's my boy doing?" He got his reply from the two women in the form of them jogging through the hub, arms raised, barrels pointed at the deflated figure of John Hart on the sofa before them.

Owen's reply came through his ear piece. "Jack, we have a thumbs up. He's going to be tired and a little doped up from the pain killers I had to give him, but there should be no more attacks."

Jack nodded, his eyes never leaving John's glowering face. "Escort John back down to his room please, ladies." His voice was cold and harsh as he watched the two women taken John by each arm and lead him away. He sneered at the man's back as he followed them out of his office and down to the entrance of the corridors leading to the vaults. John suddenly looked back over his shoulder.

"All I ever wanted was to give you the universe, Jack!" And with that, Tosh yanked his arm to pull him forwards and the three of them disappeared down to the cells.

After a moment or two, Jack snapped out of his trance and sprinted back to the autopsy room, taking the stairs two at a time down to the table.

"Ianto!" He skidded to a halt and gripped Ianto's hand in his. Owen had tilted the table up, removed the restraints and got a pillow and sheet to make him more comfortable. Ianto's eyes flickered open and he looked at Jack with recognition in his eyes.

"Hey…" His voice rasped through his dried lips, but he managed to smile, happy to see Jack's face. It was more than enough to make Jack start crying again. This time however, they were tears of joy. Ianto may not be back to his old self, but he wouldn't have to suffer attack anymore, and together, they could heal the wounds from the past few days.

Jack stroked Ianto's hair gently and started to grin, a laugh quickly following as he bent down and kissed Ianto, the young man's free hadn stroking him gently on the cheek. Behind him, Owen cleared his throat, and they both pulled away looked up.

"Sorry to break the moment but there's something we all need to talk about…" Owen looked at Ianto and addressed him directly. "Do you think you can move to Jack's office? It's a lot more comfortable and hospitable, and you don't need monitoring anymore, so it should be fine."

Ianto's eyes lit up at the prospect of leaving the depressingly sterilised room and nodded. Owen removed the central line quickly and put a plaster over the small puncture wound and started wrapping up the remaining bags of blood and the saline, for future use. Ianto let Jack hook his arm tightly around his waist, and in turn, he moved his own arm around Jack's neck for support. Owen moved to his other side, and between the three of them, they managed to get across the hub and into Jack's office, Ianto wincing slightly as he sat down, the cuts on his stomach and leg stinging a little. Jack sat next to Ianto on the sofa, holding his hand, and Owen pulled up the visitor's chair to face the two of them.

"I think we need to have a little chat guys." His face was serious. "First of all, we need to know why you did it, Ianto." He gestured to Ianto's wrists and shuffled his feet a little awkwardly. "We need know whether there's any... uh... underlying problems that could threaten Torchwood as an organisation." Ianto just sighed and squeezed Jack's hand.

"It was when I was on suspension for those months after Lisa. I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't eating… I barely did anything for a week or so and it piled up. 6 days straight with no sleep and very little sustenance plays tricks on you. I decided one day to cut myself some pineapple or something, and the knife slipped. I was holding it on the edge of the counter first, and the knife slipped and caught my leg… Then I got annoyed and a bit stressed out and held it against my stomach, and it slipped again. On pulling the knife out, my hand jerked, causing the second cut on my stomach." Ianto was looking at his feet, embarrassed at his confession of incompetence. "I called an ambulance and went to the hospital for them to stitch me up. I guess I was in such a state right then, so wound up and depressed that when the doctor left the open tray of tools in the room with me, I did the first thing that came to my head…"

His voice trailed off and Jack squeezed his hand encouragingly, trying to convey his feelings at that moment. He wasn't angry, he wasn't upset… Just relieved to know Ianto was telling them what had happened.

"They released me two weeks later after I was cleared. When I got home, I wiped all record of my stay in the hospital from the records. They wouldn't be able to find a trace of me if they went looking for it." He rubbed the back of his head and ran his fingers through his hair, averting his eyes from the dried blood on his arms. "But these scars, they're not going to go away… are they?"

He looked up at Owen and he shrugged. "I did a damn good job on those stitches… works of art if you ask me, but I can't guarantee anything with the scars. Hopefully, they'll die right down, like they did last time. I'll get some ointment or cocoa butter for you to put on them and they should fade quicker." He rubbed his eyes and groaned. "Second thing, I'm going to do some counselling with you over the next few weeks to make sure you're okay after everything… But there's another option for that. Everything happened within the last two days. All I need to do is Retcon you, and you never have to remember what happened."

Ianto looked at Jack in alarm, trying to find some sign of what Jack would do in his passive expression. "I can't decide for you, Ianto… I want what's best for you… I don't want you to forget any part of your life, but maybe it would be better for you to forget this." Jack's eyes were full of pain, reliving the fear he'd felt for Ianto over the past few hours. Ianto swallowed and looked at Owen with determination in his eyes.

"I don't want the Retcon." His voice was stronger than it had been since the first attack and Owen grinned at him, standing up and slapping him on the back.

"Right then! I'll pencil you in for 7 pm every other day for this week and see how things go from there." He moved to the door of the office and turned on his heel as if suddenly remember something. "Say… You wouldn't feel like making some coffee, would you?"

Jack threw a cushion at him and Owen flashed Ianto a grin before ducking to safety and pulling the door to behind him. Jack was still frowning in disapproval at the door when he felt Ianto's hand on the side of his face, turning it round to look at him. He kissed him gently on the lips before pulling away a little and resting his head on Jack's shoulder. The older man wrapped his arms around Ianto's waist and held him close, enjoying the feeling of their bodies pressed together after such a long time apart.

"Ianto…" Jack whispered the name after several minutes, simply because he could.

"Jack… Thank you." Ianto's voice was barely louder than Jack's had been as he slipped his arms around Jack and hugged him. "You saved me, Jack. Thank you."

Jack smiled, tilted Ianto's face towards him and kissed him once more, savouring the taste again. This time, it was like the appreciation of a fine wine as he pulled away and smiled at the young man once again. "I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to go sort out the ends of this mess... Get some sleep, Ianto." He nodded and watched Jack leave, yawning a little as he lay down on the sofa, his legs curled up beneath him.

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"Jack! I've got rift activity!" Tosh's computers screens were flashing at her and Jack hurried out of his office. It had been several hours since Ianto's initial recovery, and Jack was in a good mood, having spent the time watching Ianto sleep on his sofa, moving him down into his sleep space after a while to stop himself being distracted fromt he ends of his paperwork. He grinned at Tosh then made his way down to the cells for the third time that day. 

"Well, well, well… You came back." John's voice was thick with disgust as Jack stood in front of him.

"You threatened something I care about… Something I care about greatly." He took a step closer. "You really thought you could seduce me away from him?" Jack looked deep into John eyes and was startled to see that he had actually thought he could win Jack over. He shook his head a little and opened the door, making sure that John was still cuffed.

"Come with me." John nodded as Jack took hold of his arm and marched him up through the hub and onto the 'Invisible Elevator', Gwen and Owen quickly jumping on after him, guns clearly visible. Together, the four of them rose up into Cardiff and followed Tosh's directions, on foot, to the top floor of the multi story car park in the city centre. When they reached the top, Jack looked at John and smiled.

"You picked the wrong time in my life is all. If Ianto hadn't been around… Well, maybe the story would've been different." He looked at John and kissed him on the forehead before unlocking the cuffs and allowing him to rub his hands, still gripping onto his upper arm.

"We could've been great, Jack… Really great…" John shook his head in disappointment and looked around for the glowing orange and pink shimmer of the rift. He spotted it roughly 7 feet from the small group. He sighed heavily and looked at Jack. "There's absolutely no way I can get you to come with me?"

Jack just shook his head and lead him over to the rift, staying an arm's span away. "As I said, you just picked the wrong time." He looked sincerely at John. "Never try to pull a trick like that on me again, John. If you do, that blade of yours will do more than scratch you."

John took the warning and nodded. "Don't forget me, Jack."

He laughed and patted John on the back. "As if I could!" With a final, heart felt grin, John stepped through the hole in the rift and walked away. Within a minute or so, the gap started to heal itself, sealing up that particular section, no doubt splitting open at another point along it's expanse.

Jack sighed, smiling to himself. Turning on his heel, he strode off, back towards the hub and to the warm figure of the man nestled in his sleep space below his office. Tomorrow would be a day for healing and repairing the things that had been broken in both his and Ianto's recent pasts. Maybe they'd be able to help each other through this, becoming stronger for it in the end.

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**Author's Note**

To all of you who may be confused about this ending, it is **NOT THE END OF THE STORY**! Not by any means. However, I would like to get people's opinions on future cameos for the story. At the moment, I'm toying with the idea of getting Martha in for a bit, completely separately to the TV Series' storyline, as my Torchwood is now pretty much compeltely AU. Although I like the idea, I'm not going to bring her in if it would cause upset with people... especially after the end of Episode 8: "A Day in the Death" as I know one of my friends was horrified by her behaviour in it. Personally, I think she deserved to do it, what with saving the world and all... but not everyone feels that way.

Here's your chance to get involved! I would seriously like to read everyone's views on the matter before I start writing the next chapter and post it up here. Sorry to be a spoil sport, but there's a convinient lull in the story now to stop and take a breath.

Please review with your opinions! Torchwood needs you!


	11. Part 2 :: Chapter 1: Pancakes

Right then. Here is part 2 of my story. I was talking to my friend Naomi about it all, and we decided that the story arc of the first 10 chapters is roughly 2 or 3 episodes of the series, so it seemed an appropriate time to start a new part, especially as the storyline is going to be different to the first 10 chapters. The reason it's not a separate story is because I know how annoying it is to find a good fic, then realise it's a sequel/prequel and you have to go find the other part to understand that one properly. I don't understand why people don't just keep it all together!

So this is the beginning of the healing process. Jack and Ianto are going to encounter things, challenge things and generally grow as a couple, taking any problems face on. There'll be more about Jack's time with The Master, and more about Ianto's time on suspension. And it's going to be cute in places and ugly in places and jsut generally good Jack and Ianto action!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Torchwood or any of the characters, and sadly this is now completely AU to the TV series... well, not sadly cos Russel T. Davies (who may just be a genius) has really screwed up with Gwen's character cos she's such a god damned Mary-Sue, it's unbelievable!

((I mean, i watched 'Combat' (S01 E11) and she treats Rhys so badly, then has the temerity to feel like she's the victim in it all!))

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_**And So It Begins... Again: Part 2**

_Chapter 1: Pancakes and New Beginnings_

Jack had returned from seeing off John late in the evening. By the time he'd assured everyone else they could go home, it was almost midnight. Yawning loudly and stretching his arms in front of him, he'd stripped down to his under shirt and boxers and climbed down into his sleep space. Sitting just below the opening, he watched Ianto sleeping. He was lying on his front, arms out to the side, hands on the pillow. His head was lying on it's left side, facing Jack. The stormy blue eyes were closed and his eyebrows were raised in a sort of pleased surprise. His lips were parted in the most delicious shape that made Jack want to lose himself in them. He had to use a surprising amount of self restraint to stop himself from waking the sleeping man up.

He sighed heavily and leaned his head on the wall behind him, not wanting to lie down in case he disturbed him. It took him a while to realise that the slow, steady rate of Ianto's breathing had changed, and when he looked down, he saw those gorgeous eyes gazing up at him, a small smile on his lips. Jack returned it and bent over to him, kissing him gently on the cheek. The urge was too great for him to stop as his lips tasted Ianto's skin, making him kiss Ianto hard on the lips. He felt the young man's hand on the side of his face and pulled away a little.

There was a glint of amusement in his eyes and he rolled over onto his back, making room for Jack next to him. When Jack had settled himself down, Ianto slipped his arm around Jack's waist and leant his forehead on his chest, breathing deeply. Jack moved one of his hands through Ianto's hair, stroking the back of his neck gently. He smiled again as the young man hummed contentedly and wriggled closer to him.

They lay like that for a long time and Ianto eventually drifted off into a peaceful sleep.. To Jack's surprise, he found himself following soon after.

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Ianto opened his eyes warily, knowing that he was in Jack's arms, in the safety of Jack's cosy little sleep space. The clock he'd insisted Jack mount on the wall was flashing 10:30 am in bright red lights. He yawned and buried his head further into Jack's chest, not wanting to go upstairs and return to work.

He felt a movement, yelped in surprise and jerked back as he realised that Jack had been asleep, and that he'd just made the mistake of waking him up.

"Christ… Jack! I'm so sorry…" Ianto had his hands up in front of him, palms towards Jack in a futile attempt to calm him back down. Jack screwed one eye up and opened the other, directing it at Ianto.

"You know, that's not really going to do anything but make you strain your wrists." Ianto glanced down and saw the bandages. He blushed as he remembered telling Jack and Owen the evening before about why he'd done it, all those months ago. He quickly dropped his hands to his sides and propped himself up against the wall, staring up at the ceiling. He suddenly felt very awake, silently cursing the way pain killers always loosened his tongue up.

As if to remind him, he felt two painful throbs from each of his wrists and an ache in the middle of his stomach. He groaned as he looked down at the gauze patches on his mid abdomen, poking it experimentally around the edges, slowly moving further and further towards the middle. He yelped again and Jack started to laugh at him.

"Was that ever a dumb thing to do…" He reached out and took Ianto's hand gently in his, moving it away form his stomach and making Ianto's eyes follow. He was lying on his side, propped up on one elbow, smiling. Ianto nodded and smiled briefly back at him before looking back up at the ceiling. Memories were starting to trickle into his head, things he'd tried so hard to forget were flooding back into him, and he felt another sharp stab of pain in his stomach and wrists again. The sudden feeling made him cough as his diaphragm relax sharply, forcing the air out of his lungs.

"Yan-" Ianto looked up and forced a smile, cutting Jack's question short.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me!" he leant forwards and kissed Jack briefly before climbing over him and up into the office above. He searched around for his clothes and smiled in earnest as he saw that Jack had got him a clean suit, shirt and underwear and hung them on the back of his office door. He made his way over and picked up the hangers. He was about to sling them over his shoulder and head down to the shower room when he remembered that he couldn't shower for another 10 days. Sighing, he hung the clothes back up and slumped down into the sofa in the office, burying his head in his hands before taking a sharp breath in as his wrists gave another two twinges.

He felt a sudden, irrational anger rise up in him, forcing tears to form in his eyes. He stared at his hands angrily and started to unwind the bandages. He traced a finger lightly over the gashes, not looking up as Jack hoisted himself out of the hatch and made his way over to the sofa, sitting down next to Ianto. For the second time, he took Ianto's hand and moved it away from it's probing of the wounds. Ianto looked away but Jack used his other hand to turn his face towards him. He saw the tears in his eyes and silently brushed them away with his thumb.

He wasn't smiling. He wasn't angry and he wasn't annoyed. His face was neutral for the first time Ianto could remember. He looked at him closely, deep into his eyes and saw a wealth of emotions buried, hidden away from the world.

"What're you thinking? Right now, Jack, what're you thinking?" His voice was quiet, soft and inquisitive. He looked earnestly into Jack's eyes once more, willing him to open up. Jack returned the gaze, his brow furrowed a little as he compiled his answer.

"I'm thinking that you have a chance to heal everything all over again. You have a chance to do things differently, to take a different route." He moved his second hand down to hold Ianto's free one and carried on looking directly at him. "I'm thinking that I want to know when things get too much for you, when you need to talk to someone. I'm thinking that we can do this together." It was then that he smiled, the cheeky grin lighting up his eyes. "I'm thinking that we should order in some pancakes for breakfast! Lets have some fun before the others come in this afternoon."

Ianto laughed at that and nodded, leaning forwards and kissing Jack once more for luck. They smiled at each other for a moment before Jack stood up and dragged Ianto out into the hub and round to Tosh's work station. They stopped briefly for him to pick up the phone and dial the number the café around the corner that delivered. He ordered 6 large American style pancakes with bananas and strawberries, thanked the waitress on the other end of the phone then hung up, smiling at Ianto again.

"Ever had pancakes like that before?" There was a twinkle of adventure in his eyes again that made Ianto stay silent. He just shook his head and narrowed his eyes slightly at Jack, making him laugh as they moved to the kitchen. Ianto took his cue and turned the coffee machine on, working a little clumsily as when he applied too much force, his wrists throbbed painfully again and he had to repeat the process. Eventually, he turned around and handed Jack his coffee. For himself, he opened the fridge and poured himself a large glass of orange juice (with pulp, which Jack grimaced at) and drank most of it in one go. He looked up to see Jack looking at him incredulously.

"What? Never seen me drinking orange juice before?" He smiled mysteriously and finished it off, pouring himself another glass and dumping the carton back in the fridge door. Jack just grinned and shook his head, pulling him back out into the hub and up to the board room where the team had adopted as their unofficial dining room. He put his coffee down on the table, pushed Ianto into one of the seats and then run up to the Tourist Office to greet the waiting delivery girl who had his bag full of the glorious pancakes they'd ordered for breakfast.

He went back down to the board room and dropped into the seat by his coffee, grinning like a school boy at Ianto as he handed him a polystyrene tray. He opened his own and let out an extremely contented sighed before grabbing a plastic fork from the bag and shovelling half a pancake covered in strawberry cream and bananas into his mouth in one go. His eyes rolled up to the ceiling as he sighed dramatically again and sunk down in his seat. Ianto snorted and started to laugh at him, having watched the whole display with interest. Jack grinned at him, cheeks bulging with the fruit and pancake blend and made encouraging sounds at Ianto to try his own. Feeling a little in the spotlight, Ianto opened his own tray and took a significantly smaller pile of fruit and pancake and speared it on his fork, putting it all in his mouth and pulling the fork slowly from between his lips.

To Jack's immense pleasure, he made a similar sound of approval and closed his eyes, nodding. Jack swallowed his mouthful (with some effort) and grinned broadly again. "Didn't I tell you?"

Ianto just nodded and enjoyed the mouthful a little more. Jack took a sip of coffee and started to cut up the remaining pancakes into more manageable chunks, eating them at a steadier pace.

They spent the morning laughing and joking, kissing and touching, being together. Eventually, Ianto admitted that he needed help washing himself and Jack had bathed him tenderly, not once teasing him about it.

By the time the others came in, Ianto was smiling happily, a spring in his step that none of them had seen since before Jack returned. When Owen had questioned him about it whilst changing his dressings and re-bandaging his wrists, he just smiled knowingly at him. That had pissed off Owen, and led to him poking and prodding Ianto for an answer for the rest of the day.

"C'mon, mate! All I'm asking is what put you in such a good mood." Yet again, Ianto had ignored him and walked off, hands in pockets, to make more coffee. Owen was truly baffled. He was walking around without his suit jacket on, the sleeves of his silk shirt rolled up to his elbows. He let out an exasperated sigh and threw himself into his desk chair, which rolled violently and jerked him onto the floor with a thud.

Jack leaned back on his chair and looked out of his office, grinning.

"Don't even say it." Owen stood up and rubbed his elbow, scowling at Ianto before heading down into the autopsy bay to take his anger out on some dead alien or other.


	12. Chapter 2: Coffee

I think I should apologise to everyone for my thing with pancakes the other day. There's a perfectly logical explaination to this! I went to Chicago for a couple of days last summer, and we went to this amazing little place called The Bongo Room which did the best breakfasts I'd ever had. I chose (both days) to have american pancakes with strawberry creme fresh, maple syrup and chopped up banana and strawberries on the top. Thus, the pancakes... cos I felt that:  
A) Jack and Ianto eating the amazing pancakes would just be brilliant!  
B) I was really craving those pancakes 

Secondly, I'd like to welcome my new beta reader, Naomi (the friend who's opinion about my work actually matters). She's helped a little with this one (not as much as she'd needed to with the others) and gave it the all clear, so everyone, enjoy!

Thanks again to everyone who's got into the fic and been reviewing it regularly, it's a really cool feeling to come online to people saying how much they like the inner workings of my latest 'obsession'.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Torchwood or any of it's characters, they belong to RTD... But I reeeaaaally want to get Jack and Ianto action figures to go with my Aragorn, Batman and Wolverine statues!

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_Chapter 2: Coffee and Questions_

Owen was still grouchy with Ianto the next day, and had been seriously considering tormenting the man during his therapy session later on that evening. Ianto had made it up to him by going out to the local bakery and bringing him back a custard tart to have with his afternoon coffee, which had been, as usual, fantastic.

He had just finished cleaning out the autopsy room from the dead alien he'd had in there that day when Jack came and looked down over the railings, leaning on them with his hands clasped together.

Owen briefly looked up and then returned to his work, inviting Jack to go ahead with whatever he'd come in there to say. He prepared himself to disappoint the captain, guessing what he'd come in to talk about.

"I can't do it, Jack." He turned around, arms folded, and looked up at the man leaning on the railings. He frowned a little in reply and Owen carried on. "I can't tell you anything Ianto might talk to me about later, so don't even ask."

Jack's mouth opened, about to argue back, but Owen cut him off. "I can't go around telling you what he says in those meetings because of Doctor Patient confidentiality. If I broke that, he may not open up to me, which is the entire purpose of them in the first place."

Jack slumped forwards a little more, a grudging acceptance on his features. "Okay… fine. I just thought I'd tell you that you guys can use the board room… It's more… comfortable than this place." He looked pointedly at the blood stains on the walls and floor, wrinkling his nose a little and walking out of the room. Owen merely nodded and turned away to finish the report on the computer, taking the chance to roll his eyes at Jack without him noticing.

"I saw that!" It was impossible to tell whether Jack actually HAD seen him, or whether it was a lucky guess. He just shrugged it off, finished up his report and bundled himself off to the board room with a pad of paper and a first aid kit.

First, he made sure the blinds were closed and that the CCTV was disconnected, and then he dropped into one of the plush seats and spun around experimentally on it. There was something enjoyable about spinning round on a chair, especially when it didn't squeak or grate as it moved. It was a few moments before he noticed Ianto standing in the doorway, suppressing a smile. He simply cleared his throat and motioned to the seat opposite him, watching as Ianto closed the door behind him and walked over to the table, removing his jacket and hanging it smartly on the back of the chair, rolling his shirt sleeves up again as he sat down and slid down a little in his seat.

"Right, first off, I want you to know that whatever we talk about in here, it doesn't go any further." Owen had his medical head on and was looking at Ianto seriously. "Nothing you say in here is going to passed on. To anyone." He said the last part with emphasis and Ianto grimaced a little as the implied fact that Jack had already tried to get Owen to tell all. He just nodded at Owen, prompting him to go on.

They spent the hour discussing a lot of simple things, no deep emotions this time round, no recollections of life changing events. Just talking, getting out Ianto's current feelings, how he'd been doing over the last couple of days and whether he was alright for now. By the end of the session, Ianto had been laughing and joking with Owen, much as he had during Jack's absence. Owen took this as a good sign and jotted it down in short hand on his paper.

"Okay, now that that's over, all I need to do is do a wound check and re-dress them." Ianto sighed heavily and unbutton his waist coat and shirt, removing his tie at the same time. Owen moved around to the other side of the table and waited for Ianto to pull his t-shirt up for him to see his stomach. He pulled the gauze off and examined the cuts. They were looking a little bruised, but they were healing well and Owen noted down that the stitches there were on schedule for removal in a week's time. Next, he made Ianto pull his trousers down and checked the cut on his leg. That one was fairing slightly better as the swelling had gone down a lot more. Again, he noted that the stitches would be coming out in a week or so and let Ianto pull his trousers back up, getting up and moving to open the blinds and let in a little more light.

After a minute or so, he turned back around and looked at Ianto again. "I need to see your wrists now." There was a slight tension in the young man's features as he let Owen unwrap the bandages and look at the mess of cuts on his arms. "Why, Ianto?"

He hadn't meant to move onto the subject of his attempted suicide on the first day, but he simply couldn't resist it. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop to think about the merits of keeping them back. He looked at Ianto carefully, trying to gauge what was going on. He didn't for a minute think that he could read Ianto, that he knew the inner workings of the man's mind, but somehow, he saw a glimpse of something more in his face. He watched, silently, as Ianto studied his wrists, running his fingers of the cuts and tracing the red lines.

"Because sometimes, when things get bad… When you can't see anything left in the world that's worth fighting for… Sometimes, it gives you back that thirst for being alive." Ianto suddenly looked up at Owen, a challenge setting in his face as he dared Owen to ask him more about the question, but Owen just nodded, inspected the wounds, wrote down what he saw and bandaged them back up, a new respect for Ianto brewing in his mind.

When he'd finished, Ianto smiled appreciatively and thanked him. "Thanks, Owen. I wouldn't have made it this far without you saving me so many times over the last few days." He smiled, a genuine smile of appreciation, and left the board room, making his way down to the coffee machine to fix Owen, Jack and himself a coffee before they shut up the hub for the evening.

"Not for me, thanks, Ianto." He was pulling on his jacket and locking some papers in his desk. "I'm calling it an early night, as the girls have already taken it upon themselves to leave. Is that alright with you, Jack?"

Ianto turned to see that Jack had emerged from his office and was leaning against the doorframe. "Fine with me, Owen. Go have a beer and enjoy yourself!" Jack smiled as he headed round to Ianto and the coffee machine, waving to Owen as he left the hub.

"As for you, I could murder a coffee right now." He slipped his arm around Ianto's waist and pulled him close, pleasantly surprised when Ianto moved his lips to Jack's and kissed him, the coffee machine bubbling away next to them. Ianto ran his hands through Jack's hair and settled them behind Jack's neck, keeping him close as the kiss deepened. Eventually, Ianto pulled away as he heard a click, smiling as Jack's lips tried and failed to keep the moment going. Jack managed to open his eyes and watch Ianto pour two cups of steaming hot coffee, twisting around in his arms as he looked for the milk.

"You know, if you want your coffee, you're going to have to let me go for a minute to let me get to the fridge." Ianto's voice was level, with a slightly playful tone to it. Jack decided he could push the moment just a little bit further. He moved his mouth to Ianto's neck and kissed him gently, moving his way up towards his ear, the kisses getting harder and harder until he caused Ianto to yelp and flinch away from him, rubbing the side of his neck gingerly.

Jack smiled at the young man's indignation and started to laugh as he removed his hand, showing the beginnings of what would be a monumental love-bite. It had been a long time since he'd given anybody one of those, and somehow it seemed fitting for Ianto to break that streak. When Ianto looked accusingly at him, he feigned innocence, shrugging his shoulders and smiling sweetly. "Oops!"

Ianto glowered at him for a moment, just long enough for Jack to start wondering whether he'd gone too far. His suspicions were crushed as Ianto turned to finish making the coffee and handed Jack his, kissing him gently as he did so, heading off to Jack's office with his own in his hand, the other in his trouser pocket. Jack grinned to himself and quickly followed.

He was a little disappointed as Ianto kicked off his shoes and sat down on the sofa, nestling back into the soft cushions to enjoy his coffee, but understood and took a seat next to him, kicking his boots off his feet to collide with the opposite wall. They sat in silence for a moment before Ianto spoke, putting his coffee on the floor.

"What're we doing here, Jack?" Jack turned to see Ianto staring at the wall in front of him, taken aback by his sudden question.

"I would hazard a guess at drinking our coffee… though I'm not dense enough to assume that's what you're talking about." Ianto turned his head and smiled at him, taking Jack's hand in his and returning his gaze to the wall ahead. "I'm going to take my chances with saying that we're both here because we want to be." In the thoughtful silence that followed, Jack drained his coffee and put his cup on the floor, closing his eyes as he let Ianto mull over his words.

"Why do you stay here, when there's so much else out there? Knowing that you could have whatever you wanted." Ianto's voice was a little distant as he voiced thoughts that had been buzzing in his mind for months, half dreading Jack's reply.

"Well…" Jack chose his words carefully. "I've been to a lot of places, and quite frankly, after your first two or three supernovas, they get a little boring. When you've travelled as much as I have, the thrills in life are the small things that happen on a daily basis. At the moment, I'm quite enjoying living here, spending time with you and letting the small things happen." He smiled to himself as he finished and Ianto sat, thinking through Jack's reply and forming a new question.

"So you want what's happening between us?" Jack frowned a little and looked at Ianto with a puzzled look on his face. "I mean, I want to be here, with you… I really do. I just don't want to be forcing myself on you… Not after knowing the things you've seen, the people you've met."

Jack smiled at that and stroked his face gently and kissing his lips lightly. "I wouldn't let myself be anywhere else than next to you, Ianto Jones. Yes, I've seen more than any other living human, but nothing compares to waking up with you in my arms."

He looked into Ianto's eyes and saw nothing by affection and love in them at that moment, and he wasn't surprised at all when the young man leant forwards and locked their mouths together, both exploring the other tenderly as their arms moved around each other. Jack soon found Ianto's hands undoing his shirt and moving over his back, gently tracing his fingers down his spine and causing him to shiver a little in anticipation. Ianto smiled, withdrew his hands and lead Jack down through the hatch and into the soft nest below.


	13. Chapter 3: Love Bites

First off, I need to say a huge thankyou to some people. To start with, I'm going to thank **Erin Giles** for 'Family Matters'. I've recently read that fic and I found it to be an extremely good portrayal or Jack and Ianto's relationship and how it evolved. I think it was in that fic that I read about Ianto having a cigarette, which solidified my pre-existing ideas about having Ianto have a smoke at some point.

Next up, I need to thank all my fabulous reviewers, especially the regulars! So:

**jackandiantoisforever**

**Ithilian**

**bbmcowgirl**

**-X-Loner-X-Starlight-X-**

**Lyra the Badwolf**

**muppetmadness**

**Faramirlover**

A great big stonking thankyou for all the support and reviews over the chapters, and to anyone else I may have missed who's been reviewing regularly since the beginning!

Finally, I need to apologise for any inconsistancies or badly running sections of this chapter. I don't really know why it's not flowing right, but for some reason, it doesn't seem to have the edge I felt in the others whilst reading and rereading all of them. I'm hoping it just my life-related stress that's effecting it, as school work and peer pressure is currently doing my nut (I'm so glad I have Torchwood to escape to, you wouldn't believe!) and that'll all ease off in a couple of weeks. I also hope to do some more 'Cat and Mouse' (for any of you who're reading that as well) in the very near future, I just need to work in some time in the veneings to come up with th next section!

Please read and review cos it makes me happy and gets me to write chapters sooner!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Torchwood or any of the characters, they belong to Russel T. Davies, even though I plan on getting Jck and Ianto action figures as soon as they're relesed (I won't do anythign indecent with them... promise!)

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_Chapter 3: Love Bites and Coffee Breaks_

The next day, Jack and Ianto had spent most of the morning avoiding each other's eyes, as neither were sure they'd be able to control their laughter at remembering the night before. The rest of the team were baffled, their confusion tainted by opinions. Owen was: "That's just weird…", Tosh was a more sympathetic: "They're so sweet together!" and Gwen was thinking along the lines of: "When did me and Rhys stop having fun like that?"

The trigger behind these thoughts was the discreet, mouth shaped bruising on the side of Ianto's neck, and the slightly dark patches of skin just showing above the neckline of Jack's undershirt, hinting at a variety of pay back love bites given to him by Ianto.

When the five of them had eaten lunch in the board room, Owen had practically hit their heads together at the smirk that was dancing on Jack's face and the smothered laughter and blushing on Ianto's part. Unknown to the rest of them, Jack's foot had been brushing the back of Ianto's thigh, his leg constantly making the softest of contacts with the younger man. Owen suspected that he was quite glad that he didn't know what was causing the two men to act like lovesick teenagers.

Tosh and Gwen were, again, more understanding, trying not to smile at how Jack kept trying to feed Ianto some of his chilli beef or some of his noodles. Ianto maintained firmly that sweet and sour chicken and pancake rolls were just fine by him, putting some on a fork to eat himself, but having it snatched away as Jack tried to decide which he liked better. He came to the conclusion that he liked Sweet/Sour/Chilli beef and chicken, followed with noodle stuffed pancake rolls. Ianto just rolled his eyes and sat back, sheltering the plastic container from Jack's attempts to recreate his new combo of meals.

None of the team could've been happier that day. The girls were just glad Ianto showed no signs of any permanent damage from his ordeal, Owen was glad that he got to hide from them for the entire afternoon, dissecting a body, and Ianto and Jack were just happy… Because, well, they were just in a happy place at that particular time.

That's not to say it was always like that in the times that followed.

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A week later had brought mood swings galore to the hub. Tosh had lost count of the times Jack had blown up at one of them for something or other, causing Ianto to go into his office after him, and for both to emerge a while later in better moods. Jack usually spent an hour or so after that making amends, listening to their problems and trying to help them with their current investigations. Sometimes he blew up at Ianto and ordered him into his office, slamming the door closed behind him.

On those occasions the other three had heard loud, angry voices yelling at each other, hints of desperation and frustration lacing the voices. They always subsided, sometimes faster than others, and the voices bubbled down to apologetic murmurings. Tosh had been the only one to witness one of these arguments, as she'd been staying late in the hub, and Jack had forgot to close the door. She was pleased to see that neither one of them raised a fist to the other, never threatening physical harm to the other, just angry voices and scowling faces. As they'd calmed down, she'd been surprised that it was Jack looking for comfort from Ianto, leaning his head on the young man's shoulder and wrapping his arms around him. Ianto had just slipped an arm around him, stroking the back of his head gently until the older man pulled away and smiled apologetically, no resentment or annoyance to be found. She had left the hub soon after with a lot of views of her Captain to revise.

Now, when Ianto got angry at the rest of them, it was a slightly different matter. Instead of yelling and just being generally difficult, he got snappy and moody. He never raised his voice to Gwen, Tosh or Owen, but assaulted them with streams of sarcasm. He only ever yelled at Jack, mainly for trying to stop him in one of his snide remarks. Ianto had only yelled a few times over the last week, but it was more than he had done before…

There was one particular time, the last time, that made everyone start to worry.

It was around about 5:00 pm and Ianto would normally have been swinging through the hub to take orders on coffee. He'd been in a bit of a bad mood all day, and only Owen could begin to guess why. They'd touched on something in his session the evening before that had obviously made him uncomfortable. However, Owen being the professional he was, hadn't said anything. Jack had seen that something had unsettled the young man as soon as he'd emerged from the board room. It was even more obvious when, instead of staying and talking to Jack, he kissed him briefly and headed home, saying he needed time to think.

The next morning, he'd arrived at the usual time, kissed Jack good morning and made him some coffee. There was nothing seriously untoward about his behaviour, just small things that made Jack's forehead crease in thought. The others had started to file in for work soon after, meaning Jack didn't get an opportunity to talk to him properly. So he was just as stumped as the others when Ianto snapped.

He had been sitting down on the sofa behind Tosh's desk with a book held in front of his face and earphones screwed into his ears, submersed in the story and the music. Jack had been surprised at that. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Ianto reading or listening to music in work… He later realised it was because he'd never done it before.

Tosh had been just as intrigued and had tried to asked Ianto about his book, simply trying to engage in conversation with the young man. Unfortunately, Ianto didn't seem particularly social and the conversation had died out after a few one worded answers. About half an hour later, Gwen had asked Ianto for a cup of coffee when he got a minute, and the man grunted in reply. The two women exchanged looks and went back to their work. Another fifteen or so minutes after that, Tosh had gingerly asked about coffee as well. Ianto had looked up and fixed her with an icy stare until she turned around to study her computers again.

Soon after that, Owen had walked up into the main area of the hub and stood in front of Ianto, repeating the request for coffee. He saw the muscles in Ianto's jaw clench and relax several times before he got a slow and almost painful nod of the head. Frowning, he'd moved over to his work station and dropped into the chair, discretely making sure both feet were firmly planted on the floor to avoid anymore rolling and falling action.

Jack hadn't witnessed any of this, and no sooner had Owen sat down than Jack stuck his head out of the door and called cheerily for a coffee refill, complaining that his current one had gone cold.

Ianto had snapped at that, the built up tension from the other three requests breaking out. "I'm not your fucking tea-boy! You all know where the coffee machine is and you know how to fucking well use it!"

Before Jack could get up out of his chair, Ianto had snapped the book in his hands shut and stormed out of the hub. Jack had yelled after him, a little perturbed as to why he'd snapped at his usual coffee request. Deciding to give him some space to breathe, Jack had settled back in his chair and continued filling out the report on his desk. When Ianto still hadn't emerged forty five minutes later, he'd stood in the doorway to his office with his hands in his pockets for a few minutes before going up to the Tourist Office, working out what he'd say as he made his way through the corridor.

When he'd reached the hidden door, he'd settled on slipping his arms around the man and asking him as gently as he could what was bothering him. It was obvious that something big was on his mind to cause such a dramatic change in temperament.

He stepped out of the door, expecting to see Ianto sitting behind his desk, sulking moodily in front of some brochures, but felt a sharp stab of worry as he saw the room before him empty. He vaulted the desk to look around the other entrance to the office and saw that it too was empty.

The hub was Ianto free.

The worry had started to build as he sprinted back downstairs and skilled to a halt behind Tosh. "Bring me up the CCTV cameras outside the building!"

He'd scanned all of the cameras for a long time, trying to find any sign of the man, knowing before he started that he wasn't going to see anything. When Tosh pulled up all the footage from the time Ianto left to hub onwards, he wasn't surprised that he saw nothing of the Welshman on them either. Ianto was a smart guy, and he knew exactly where those cameras were trained. It wouldn't have taken him long to work out the blind spots.

"Shit… Why isn't he running this place?" Owen had cursed in admiration as Jack explained his theory to them all.

Jack had ordered Tosh to track his mobile phone and car, but both showed their locations to be the hub. Jack looked around the office and saw Ianto's jacket hanging over the back of his desk chair, and knew that both the car keys and the phone were in the pockets. Then he got Tosh to check the CCTV in his apartment building, and the streets around there. No luck. Next came the bars and restaurants that Ianto liked, but again, there was no sign of him. Jack was starting to get extremely worried. Ianto had now been missing for almost two hours, and he had no idea how to find him.

He decided to sit back in his chair and think carefully about where he would go if he didn't want to be found. His first thought was to go into the middle of Cardiff and have a coffee at some café that was tucked away down a side street. Then he remembered that he was pretending to be Ianto and revised what he would consider appealing. Quiet, solace… Somewhere without lots of people.

He suddenly jumped up and slipped his great coat on, leaving his office and running through the corridors and out of the hub. He'd forgotten how early the sun was going down at the moment, and was surprised to find that the sky was a soft blue, streaked with orange and pink, the edges of the clouds tinged with purple and blood red. Why didn't he leave the hub more often?

Shaking his head, he remembered just what he was looking for. His first port of call was to look around the bay, checking the benches and the steps. As he'd suspected, there was no sign of Ianto so setting his mind on his next destination, he travelled around to the pier that jutted right out into the water, benches lining the middle and facing outwards for the occupants to enjoy the cityscape.

He walked steadily along the wooden planks, his back hunched a little against the cold wind that was buffeting him gently. He passed numerous couples, deep in conversation or kissing each other gently, enjoying each other's company whilst the sun sent a paint box of colours flooding across the open space above them. Jack felt a small pang of loneliness, wondering why he'd never come out here with Ianto all those times they'd sat in the hub together. It was a beautiful scene, and Jack smiled to himself as he remembered that no other planet in the entire universe had sunsets as spectacular as this.

He was about three quarters of the way down the long pier when he spotted the figure he'd been searching for. Ianto was sitting on a bench, hunched over with his back to the wind, the collar of his black wool coat pulled up to protect his neck. As Jack got closer, he was surprised to see a cigarette resting between his fingers as he stared out at the turbulent water. Jack watched in fascination as he lifted it to his lips and took a long, luxurious drag and exhaled the smoke with the technique of someone who'd had experience in that area.

Ianto didn't look up as Jack moved to sit next to him, continuing to look out over the water, bringing the cigarette to his lips again. Jack watched as the ash fell lightly from the end and was swept away by the wind. Ianto sighed heavily and dropped the cigarette to the floor and crushing it beneath the toe of a highly polished black shoe.

"I'm sorry, Jack." Ianto was the first to break the silence, but when Jack turned to look at him, he saw that his gaze was still fixed somewhere over the water, his voice soft and distant.

"What're you sorry for? You were perfectly right. Maybe not the best way of expressing it though." Jack laughed a little, trying to engage the young man in the conversation, trying to draw the almost scary gaze away from it's interest. Ianto's head didn't move.

"No. I was out of line, I shouldn't have yelled like that." They remained silent for a while, Jack watching the unchanging expression on Ianto's face the entire time. He was beginning to wonder whether the wind had frozen him in place when he dropped his eyes to the floor and clasped his hands together, his voice back to it's usual tone and strength. "I don't know what came over me, Sir. It won't happen again."

Jack was slightly taken aback by his formality. "Ianto, I'm not here as your boss." He watched as Ianto's eyes softened a little as he looked up, looking straight into Jack's eyes, Jack smiling in reply. "Why don't you tell me what's going on with you, Ianto?"

Jack sat back and placed his arms on the back of the bench, crossing his legs and looking at Ianto patiently. The young man sighed heavily again and sat back as well, leaning his head on Jack's arm and looking up at the colourful sky. They sat like that for a while, Jack unsure as to whether Ianto was going to divulge anything about his behaviour. He wasn't really expecting him to, but he was glad when Ianto sighed again and started his explanation.

"I guess that last night, in Owen's session, we were talking about my work load. We were talking about how it changed since you left and then came back." He stopped for a moment, considering his words a little. "I started to realise that no one ever said that I had to make the coffee. No one every said that I had to put in all those extra hours every week. The bit that made me most angry was that you used to point that out to me, you used to make me stop. I just never listened. I never had any reason to." Ianto had moved one of his hands to rest on Jack's knee as his story came to a natural lull.

"I just thought that I'd earned myself a break, an hour or so to sit down and read and listen to some music whilst you all got on with some work. I tried to take a time out seven times today. Every single time I sat down, someone called me away for a coffee, or because they'd run out of biros or post-its or something equally trivial. No one seemed to realise that they were disturbing me…" He trailed off a little at that. His voice wasn't angry, it wasn't harsh or sceptical. He just sounded confused and a little lost. Jack felt a pang of sympathy clutch at his insides. How could he have not noticed?

The guilt that throbbed in his stomach faded a little as Ianto turned his head and pulled Jack into a kiss, a kiss that gave Jack an insight into Ianto's frame of mind. He felt lost and inadequate, he needed comfort and he needed to know that Jack needed him there. Jack was more than happy to oblige and kissed the young man hard in return, trying to convey his emotions as much as he could, trying to make Ianto believe how much he wanted and needed the young man.

By the time they pulled away form each other, the colours had left the sky and it was just the one shade of blue, darkening by the minute. Jack looked up and saw the first of the stars glinting in the open space above him, realising something that made him smile. Looking back down at Ianto, he smiled and moved his arm from behind his shoulders, grasping the young man's hand in his.

"From now on, you're going to be allowed to sit down an read in my office whenever you want. Just come in and kick me out and lock the door. I promise that no one will disturb you unless there's another apocalypse coming. I'm sure we can all manage without your magic coffee for an hour every so often." Jack smiled and squeezed Ianto's hand, his heart jumping as he saw Ianto grin back at him.

"Maybe you don't have to leave the room." The suggestion glittered in his eyes and Jack laughed loudly. He never worked out how he managed to get to his feet as Ianto stood up and pulled him back towards the city. They walked along the wooden board walk hand in hand and Jack felt like he was finally at a point in his life where he was happy. Little did he know that Ianto was feeling exactly the same.


	14. Chapter 4: Beer

Yet another side to this relationship is on display in this particular chapter... and I must say, I'm happy to have it stripped down to the basic Jack/Ianto time togetehr fic this started out as. Although I loved writing the action and the fighting (not to mention John turning up), I also love doing the emotional side, as demonstrated in 'Time After Time'.

I put in a little tribute to episode 9, cos Ianto was just so damn adorable in it.

Enough clap trap from me, enjoy your next installation!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anyone in here, they're the property of Russel T. Davies until I come up with a cunning plan to buy them and bend them to my will.

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_Chapter 4: Beer and Realisations_

As they neared the boarder of the concrete and tiles of dry land, Jack suddenly remembered something he'd wanted to ask earlier. "How long have you been a smoker? I've never tasted it on you before."

Ianto looked at him with a small smile in his eyes. "I'm not a smoker per say… I just have one or two every so often… Normally every few weeks. It makes me feel normal." Jack frowned a little and Ianto's smile reached his lips. "Well, there's not many things that someone working in Torchwood can do that Joe Average can, smoking's just one of those few that you can. It's not like I'm going to be losing much from my life… I seem to remember that the average life expectancy for a Torchwood member is about 37 years old."

Jack gave him a sideways look and contemplated Ianto's words as they made their way back to the hub in a comfortable silence.

As they reached the 'invisible elevator' Ianto stopped in mid stride, Jack peering around at him with a worried look on his face. Almost immediately, he recognised the expression on Ianto's face, nodded and stood on the elevator. As he sunk down through the pavement, he saw Ianto sit down on the curb with his head in his hands.

Jack had to file the image away as he saw the others rush round to where the elevator was coming down to perch. He waved his hands to silence the babble of questions that were streaming his way and looked at them seriously.

"He's fine, he's okay. He was sitting down at the end of the pier, just trying to get some time to himself. He feels too bad about what happened to come down and face you lot right now, so would you mind leaving through the Tourist Office?" Jack looked at them all, a slight plea in his voice. Tosh nodded and Owen grimaced a little, following Tosh over to the work stations to pack up for the night. Gwen still stood there, lips pursed, hands on hips. "What? Did something explode whilst I was up top?"

"No, Jack. It's Ianto." She looked a little concerned mixed in with some annoyance and grudging. Jack's mind was wandering off, trying to make up a plausible excuse for that expression when she clicked her fingers to bring him back. "He can't go on with all these mood swings! You either need to give him some time off, or get proper therapy for him. No offence to Owen, but he's not necessarily the world's best psychiatrist."

Jack just stared at her. "I have complete faith in Owen! And it's not like there's an abundance of doctors that he'd be able to talk to." As he was talking, an idea flashed up in his mind, one that would be worth pursuing at some point, even if just to catch up.

"Gwen, don't worry about it. I'll sort him out tonight and he'll be back to making your mochaccino tomorrow morning." With those final words, he jumped off the elevator and strolled round to the workstations to hurry up the process of getting everyone out. He practically packed Gwen's bag for her as she tried to get him to talk with her again, shoving all three of them through the huge circular door and locking it behind them.

Running round to the elevator, he set it going and leapt up to catch it going up, rising to see Ianto hugging his knees, his chin resting thoughtfully on his arms. On seeing Jack, his face lit up and he allowed himself to be pulled onto the perception filter. Jack kissed him hard, and Ianto was reminded of the moments in films when the hero scoops up his love interest and kisses them for the 'hero' pose. It may have been a little cheesy, but he wasn't complaining. Any kiss from Jack Harkness was a kiss worth remembering.

They almost lost each other in that kiss, but managed to surface as the elevator juddered to a halt and Jack took Ianto's hand again, leading him gently around to the kitchen area and pulling two bottles of beer from the fridge. He reluctantly let go of Ianto's hand and freed the bottles from their metal covers, handing one of the dark green bottles to Ianto and looking at him for a moment.

Ianto took a long swig of the cool liquid and returned Jack's look, never wavering for a moment. When had be become so fascinated with Captain Jack Harkness? When was it that simply looking into his eyes made the world make sense? He didn't know, he couldn't remember. Surely there had been something that had changed his mind. He remembered the surging anger and hatred for the man that he'd harboured after Lisa's slaughter… No, her termination. No, that wasn't right, it hadn't even been Lisa by the end. He'd lost his Lisa back in the Battle of Canary Wharf. She'd died in the blaze. When was it that those burning feelings changed to the affection and love he felt now?

He choked a little on the mouthful he was currently savouring and swallowed it quickly, turning away and heading over to the sofa behind Tosh's work station. He felt Jack's strong grip divert his path into his office. He let go of the young man's arm and sat down at his desk, kicking his shoes off and leaning back, his feet resting on the table top. He regarded Ianto again, more with curiosity than with affection this time. Ianto just turned away and took a seat on the sofa. A thought suddenly came to his mind that he'd been wanting to ask for a long time.

"Jack, what's the most painful way you've ever died?" Jack's beer caught in his throat and his head jerked forwards as he stopped himself from spitting it out in surprise. When he recovered, he looked over at Ianto as he considered his reply.

"Painful in what way…?" Ianto rolled his eyes. Trust Jack to ask that.

"I don't know. Physically, what was the most painful?" Ianto took another mouthful of beer and watched the older man with interest.

"I guess it would be the time I had a spawn of some description living in my abdominal cavity. It ate away at the surrounding tissue for days before finally bursting out and shredding several major blood vessels… You know, like in 'Alien'? I swear they got the idea from me." Jack was grinning as if remembering something funny about a monster bursting from his stomach. Ianto just shuddered a little and put his beer on the edge of Jack's desk, suddenly not wanting to finish it. Jack laughed at the look of repulsion on his face and got up, pulling the young man to his feet.

"Jack…?" Ianto frowned at him as Jack lead him over to the old gramophone he kept in the corner, putting on some old wartime music, like that which would've been found in the dances the soldiers attended on their leave. Jack smiled at him, took both their coats and hung them up, then slipped an arm around his waist, taking his other hand and holding Ianto's up by his shoulder. He moved his head next to Ianto's, their cheeks almost touching. He could feel the heat radiating off Jack's skin and closed his eyes, smiling as the older man started to sway, slow dancing on the spot.

The crackly music swooped and dived around them, morphing through several motions, all slow and gentle. Ianto felt himself lulled into a state of serenity that he hadn't felt for a long time.

They moved silently to the music for a the entire piece, keeping time and enjoying the moment they were sharing with each other. Eventually though, the music died away and Jack sighed heavily. "I love that song…" he pulled back a little and looked at Ianto. At that moment, the young man looked so delicious, so undeniably gorgeous that he couldn't stop himself from cupping Ianto's face in one hand and capturing his lips in a deep kiss.

At that, Ianto felt himself go slightly weak at the knees. He felt strong arms wrap themselves around his waist and he could do nothing more than keep kissing Jack desperately, suddenly certain that stopping would cause the world to collapse around them. He felt Jack's hand stroke the small of his back gently, sending shivers up his spine. Jack was smiling around the kiss and smiled back.

The stresses of the day seemed to melt away from him; the anger and annoyance he'd felt, the worry of what Jack would say, the hurt he'd felt in his bones for a reason he hadn't yet found out. Nothing seemed important as Jack held him close and kissed him.

He would later admit that he knew the moment would have to end at some time, but that didn't stop him from feeling extremely vulnerable and a little lost when Jack pulled back and stroked his face gently, smiling at the expression on the young man's face as he looked earnestly up at his lover.

Ianto could tell that Jack wanted to go to bed, wanted to explore the realms of the night, and an idea started to bloom in his mind. He smiled and slipped from Jack's arms, grabbing the two coats hung on the coat stand and headed silently out of the office towards the hug circular door out of the hub. Jack followed him quickly, wondering what Ianto was up to. Ianto's knowing little smile was back on his face as he threw the greatcoat to Jack, shrugging his own black coat on and shoving his hands deep in the pockets. Once the door had finished opening, he strolled through and up to the Tourist Office.

Jack was a little late on the uptake. Suddenly realising that they were leaving the hub, he sprinted round the workstations and switched the power off, finally flicking the lights off and ran to catch up with Ianto. He was breathing heavily as he skidded to a halt in the office above, looking around for Ianto. He was almost annoyed to see the young man sitting in his desk chair and waiting patiently for him. He watched as Ianto stood up and smiled at him before taking his hand and leading him out of the office, flicking the lights off and locking the door as they left.

Ianto smiled, more to himself than anyone else, as Jack slipped an arm around his waist as they walked to Ianto's car. It wavered a little as Jack held his hands out for the keys and he reluctantly tossed them over, climbing into the passenger side. He uttered a silent prayer as Jack revved the engine, wordlessly promising his car that he'd get it checked over sometime soon.

They got back to Ianto's flat in about half the time it usually took Ianto to drive. He'd almost had a heart attack as Jack had skidded around a corner and almost knocked an old lady to the ground. He was stunned as Jack apologised with all the charm in his inventory. She'd taken it happily and giggled as the handsome young man behind the wheel winked at her and driven off. It had been the highlight of her week!

Jack had got a half hearted 'I can't believe you just did that!' from Ianto as they made their way through the building towards Ianto's front door. It had been increasingly hard to put the key in the lock as Jack's hands roamed over his stomach and legs from behind. He almost elbowed the older man, just to get him away for long enough to open the door and get them safely inside. Jack seemed to have sensed this and settled for wrapping his arms gently around the young man's midriff and resting his chin on his shoulder.

That had given Ianto the opportunity to open the door and pull Jack in behind him, slamming the door closed. Before the lock had clicked into place, Jack was kissing Ianto hard. The young man had given as good as he got and they were soon in the bedroom, a path of discarded clothes in their wake.

It had been a new experience for the lovers, but Jack appreciated the space and change of scenery later that night as they lay together under the dark brown duvet. He looked around Ianto's bedroom and considered just what Ianto might have muttered in the night all those times he'd been alone. These walls would know the answer to all the questions Jack had on his mind. He just wished they'd had a way to repeat the words back to him.

Sighing, he moved onto his side and stroked the soft skin on Ianto's side, watching the young man's chest rise and fall rhythmically as he dreamt. He felt extremely protective of the sleeping body next to him. At that moment, in the middle of the night, lying in Ianto's bed, that he realised one solid, unchangeable fact.

He loved Ianto Jones.


	15. Chapter 5: Mornings

I apologise now for my obsession with describing food again... I dunno why, but I was craving omelette whilst writing this one.. though jsut a normal omelette, without the filling... That is SO going to be tomorrow's breakfast!

I also wanted to say that For Ianto's music taste, it is very much how I see him, listening to a bit of rock and roll, but then older, more grown up american music... And then there's acid jazz, funk and Tool which are three of Gareth David-LLoyd's favourites! I figure that Ianto would like them aswell! I apologise for the Bruce Springsteen thing I have at the moment, what with Human Touch in the 10 things Jack Learned and now Real World in this... I just love the songs!

Enjoy this randomness! I will update as soon as my music and ICT courseworks are done, and I'll post the next Cat and Mouse chapter (which is already half written) sometime late tomorrow after a day's work.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters in this, they belong to Russel T. Davies, and all the bands/artists mentioned are their own people and awesome to I think you should listen to them!

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_Chapter 5: Mornings and Bruce Springsteen_

The early morning sun was shining through the gap between the dark brown curtains, and Jack found himself pulled out of a deep sleep by the touch of something on his cheek. He blinked a few times and managed to open his eyes to find what had woken him. He realised after a few moments that Ianto was sitting on the bed next to him, pyjama trousers pulled on and a smile on his face. Jack noticed that the bandages on his stomach and wrists had been replaced already.

He stroked Jack's cheek again before standing up and making his way towards the door, humming a little tune to himself. Jack rubbed his eyes hard and sat up, looking around for his boxers from the night before, wondering where exactly they'd been discarded. He didn't have to look far as he found them on the end of the bed, on top of a neatly folded pile of his clothes from the day before. Everything had been washed and Jack picked the underwear up and smelt it, momentarily forgetting that Ianto was still standing by the door.

When he remembered, he looked up sharply to see Ianto smiling at him, his eyes mocking him a little. "What?! Your detergent just smells nice, okay?" He tried to make himself sound as offended as possible, but Ianto just smiled a little more and walked out into the open plan living area.

Jack quickly pulled on the underwear and the t-shirt and shuffled out after Ianto. He was singing again. Jack loved it when Ianto sang. His voice sounded so carefree, so unlike the world they lived in. Grinning, he moved up behind the young man as he stood watching the kettle boil, and slipped his arms around his waist, kissing him gently on the neck. He felt Ianto's hands on his arms and marvelled at the way the touch of their skin could still send tingles along his body.

"Jack, we should get dressed…" The singing had stopped, and Ianto barely had to raise his voice to get Jack's attention. As much as Jack hated to admit it, he was right. They'd have to go open up soon, ready for the others to turn up. Ianto twisted around in his arms and chuckled at the face Jack was pulling at him. He really didn't want to leave just yet.

"Do I at least get a cup of coffee?" Ianto laughed properly at that and kissed Jack gently before detaching himself and turning round to pour the freshly boiled water into the two mugs sitting on the work surface. The smell of roasted coffee beans drifted towards Jack and he closed his eyes, inhaling and savouring the scent. He heard the metal spoon hit the sides of the mug as Ianto stirred it and opened his eyes, hands held out for the mug as Ianto lifted it from the surface and gave it to him.

Jack grinned and shuffled back into the bedroom, leaving Ianto in the kitchen laughing to himself. He turned to the fridge and pulled out some eggs and butter to make an omelette with and wondered when it was that he'd become the woman in the relationship. _That's a stupid question, when was Jack EVER going to be the woman? _He shook his head at the thought and started to hum again. Within minutes, he was singing the words softly, a song from the Bruce Springsteen album he'd had on in sound system on the other side of the living area. He didn't ever sing loudly, at the top of his lungs, he just sang to himself as he did housework, usually cleaning.

He cracked the eggs into a bowl and whisked them with a fork, his rendition of Real World still running gently from his mouth. As he moved into the chorus, he tipped the eggs into the frying pan which had been slowly melting the butter he put in it, and swirled the yellow liquid around. He continued on in this fashion as he flipped the omelette over and cooked the other side.

As the bridge rolled around, he put some chopped spring onion, red peppers and grated cheese on one half and folded the other side over, letting the cheese melt and bind the sides closed. He was just taking the omelette out of the pan when Jack emerged from the bedroom, fully dress with a towel over his head to dry his hair. The song came to a natural finish as he cut the breakfast in half and slid them onto separate plates.

Ianto carried the two plates over to the breakfast bar section on the work surface and sat himself down on one of the high stools, putting a fork next to Jack's plate and using his own to cut a chunk away from the steaming pile on his plate.

"You know, I met Bruce Springsteen." Jack had pulled the towel down around his neck and was casually mimicking Ianto, lifting the fork to his mouth and depositing some of the omelette there. Ianto juts stared at him, his jaw dropping.

"You met him? Seriously?" He was amazed as Jack just nodded.

"He was a pretty nice guy, had a whole load of ideas about where he was heading, what he wanted to do… You know, the whole 'I'm going to be a famous rock star' bit that every young man comes out with at some point in his life." He took another mouthful and swallowed. "I wouldn't have guessed at the time that he would've made it!"

Ianto was staring at Jack, unable to make himself pick up his abandoned fork and eat. Jack Harkness, the man who he'd shared a bed with for the past week, had met one of his all time idols.

"Of course, he made pretty good coffee as well." Ianto choked on the mouthful of coffee he'd made himself take and almost fell off his chair from shock. Jack looked at him a little funny before realising what he'd said. "Oh! No, not like that! He used to work in a café I visited for my morning caffeine hit! We used to talk all the time, and he'd serve me the coffee."

He laughed at that, finding the completely envious look on the young man's face extremely amusing. If he'd known that Ianto liked the guy so much, he would've mentioned it sooner. He'd never had a look through his CD collection, so he wouldn't have known that Ianto owned every one of his albums. He'd guessed that as hardly any people knew who Springsteen was over here, Ianto wouldn't have been impressed… But obviously he'd misjudged that one.

Finishing up his omelette, he stood and carried the plate and fork round to the sink and dropped them into the bowl of hot water. He turned around to find Ianto still staring at his food. He smiled a little and went up behind him, slipping his hands around Ianto's bare chest and kissing him gently on the cheek, Ianto leaning in to it a little.

"Come on, you need to have a shower so we can get to the office on time." That made him snap out of his trance and wolf down the remaining omelette and coffee before clambering off the stool and making his way through to the bedroom.

Jack smiled and decided to wash and dry the dishes, trying not to think about what Ianto was doing in the room over. He was soon finished with them and moved onto the frying pan. That was a little harder, and took more concentration to avoid it getting damaged from the scouring pad.

When all the items from breakfast were cleaned, dried and back in their usual places, Jack ventured over to the free standing CD rack that stood next to Ianto's sound system. He scanned through the music, finding bands from the likes of Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam, to Bruce Springsteen and Jackson Browne. He was impressed with the young man's taste.

He soon discovered he also had a taste for acid jazz and funk, finding a few CDs scattered around the room on various surfaces. He was attempting to read the cover of a plain black CD when Ianto walked into the room, dressed immaculately in his signature suit and tie. Jack held the case up questioningly.

"Lateralus." Ianto looked over at Jack again and saw an even deeper expression of confusion on his face. "Tool? You know, the band?"

Jack looked nonplussed, Ianto's words obviously not registering. "You've never head Tool before?" Ianto was a little incredulous as Jack slowly shook his head.

"Right, that's going on in the car." With that, Ianto grabbed the CD from Jack, slipped on his black wool coat and pushed Jack through the door, locking it behind him. They made their way down to the car and Jack let Ianto drive, still a little bewildered from the CD case. At first it had looked like some alien artefact, as there had been no writing on the thing at all, just black. Then, the more he looked, he noticed that there'd been some markings on it, which he couldn't make out. This made him even more certain it was alien.

He was jerked out of the thought of why Ianto had such a strange CD when the opening of the first song come through the speakers, the rhythmical guitars almost hypnotic. Ianto just looked at him and smiled, putting his foot down on the acceleration.

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The music had been disjointed and eerie, but the more Jack heard, the more he appreciated what Ianto must have heard in it. He was by no means a fan, but he was able to stop frowning in confusion by the time they'd reached the hub.

The morning had gone uneventfully to say the least. The others had turned up and they seemed to reach an unspoken agreement with Ianto about the day before. Jack watched them from his office door, smiling to himself as he watched Ianto busy himself with coffee and danishes for everyone. He'd taken a trip to the bakery soon after they'd arrived at the hub in the morning, picking up doughnuts and danishes for everyone in the hub to have with their morning coffee.

By the middle of the afternoon, Jack found himself stretched out on the sofa in his office, unable to concentrate on the paperwork on his desk, the small black figures of the print out blurring into one and dancing away as his concentration slipped. He was lying on his back, feet propped up on one arm of the sofa, his head on the other. His hands were linked together and resting on his stomach as he stared at the ceiling.

He wouldn't have been able to explain to anyone what he was thinking about, because he didn't really understand himself. He was just flicking through memories that rose to the surface, half the time not even coherent. His insides felt like they'd been clenched for a long time, and the muscles were finally relaxing.

It had been a long time since he had suffered from this lack of concentration and he wasn't sure what to blame it on, if it even could be. Sighing, he attempted to channel his mind in one direction and Ianto's face from that morning appeared in his mind's eye. His hair was sticking up at odd angles and his eyes glittered in the sun streaming through the window. It had been a wonderful picture to wake up to.

Yes, that was it, he'd actually woken up. That is to say, he'd actually slept that night. Maybe that was why his focus was so scattered. He smiled to himself and stretched his arms up and behind his head, settling his hands and closing his eyes to enjoy the morning's memories a little more.

He was pleasantly jerked from his daydream as the real Ianto Jones walked into his office and sat down in the chair behind his desk, a half grin on his face as he settled back in the chair. Jack swung his legs off the sofa, his insides adoptiong their contracted posistions again, and sat up, yawning and stretching his arms out in front of him before leaning back and resting his head on its side so he could watch Ianto.

He almost started to laugh at seeing that the young man had a book flipped open on the desk and a cup of coffee in his hand. He just smiled and got to his feet, walking around the desk to kiss Ianto on the top of the head before heading out the door, pulling it to behind him. He decided to let Ianto have the time to himself, even though he had a sneaking suspicion that the young man wanted him to stay in the room with him.

"Jack, you seen Ianto?" Owen's head was hovering at floor height in the entrance to the autopsy bay. Jack walked over and looked down to see him standing on one of his cabinets, having been too lazy to walk up the stairs. Jack just raised an eyebrow disapprovingly.

"Yes, I have. He's in my office having a break… We all get them, so I think he should be allowed a half hour or so out of his day to read and have a cup of coffee." Jack spoke in such a tone that Owen didn't even begin to object.

"Okay, sure. Well, when you see him next, will you tell him that I want to take his stitches out. All of the cuts should be healed up by now." Owen nodded to himself and dropped from view. Jack turned and stood looking around, slightly at a loss for what to do.

He settled on helping Tosh work out some new software she'd been developing to decipher some new glyphs they'd found on some objects the previous week.

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Ianto and Owen were sitting down in the autopsy bay, one of either side of the metal table that sat in the middle. Owen had already removed the stitches from his stomach and leg, and was now working on the wrists.

"You're a fast healer, Ianto Jones." They'd been talking casually the whole time, both watching the procedure instead of looking at each other, something Ianto had been relieved to see, as Owen was supposed to be concentrating on pulling the plastic thread from his skin.

"Well… I think there's a knack to it." He smiled mysteriously as Owen glanced up and frowned a little. He understood what Ianto meant, but he didn't understand how he could say it that confidently. Slowly, he pulled the last of the stitches from Ianto's arms and sat back, looking at the vivid purple scars crawling across Ianto's wrists. There was no sign of where the thread had been.

"Right then, I'm assuming you don't want to go through another therapy session today.. How about we make it every three days now? You seem to be making a lot of progress on your own, as far as I can tell." He had his medical head back on.

"Not exactly on my own." He smiled as he stood up and pulled his jacket off the banister, swinging it over his shoulder and heading up the stairs.


	16. Chapter 6: Blushes

**_Please, if you like this story enough to favourite it (or me), review it! It's the reviews which keep me writing! They let me know what people think in a more detailed way than [FF Favourite in my inbox. I really value your opinions on the story and any input is extremely welcome._**

I apologise again for the Bruce Springsteen stuff... I've just spent alot of time in the car today, and my dad currently has that album in his CD player, so we've been listening to it alot, and when the song came on, I couldn't help but think 'That could be a Janto theme tune!' except for the fact that he's singing about a woman... but that can be overlooked!

I loved writing this chapter, I found it very cute! I promise to get some proper alien action in there again soon, after this little emotional exploration section! The action shall continue!

Please enjoy it as much as I've emjoyed writing it!

**Disclaimer**: I sadly do not own any of the characters or lyrics that appear in here, they belong to Russel T. Davies and Bruce Springsteen respectively._

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Chapter 6: Blushes and Confessions_

Ianto headed up to Jack's office straight away, almost lost in thoughts of him. He waved goodbye to Owen as the doctor called to say he was leaving without turning around. He heard the door slide open and shut, and by the time he was twisting the handle to the office, the hub was silent again. He allowed himself one more smile before opening the door to see what Jack was up to.

He pushed the door ajar and peered in, looking at Jack. He was sitting behind his desk, filling in some paperwork, but there was something unusual about the scene. Yes, that was it. Jack was leaning his forehead on one hand, writing with the other, that much was normal. The difference was that he was muttering to himself. Ianto frowned in concern.

He couldn't make out what Jack was saying, but he gathered that he was having an argument with himself. Backing away, he left the door where it was and went down to the kitchen area, not wanting to disturb Jack until he'd settled whatever it was he had been debating. As he turned the coffee machine on and watched it bubble away, Ianto thought to himself.

He couldn't remember a time when Jack had ever mumbled to himself. Sure, it'd sometimes seemed like he was to Tosh, Gwen and Owen, but Ianto knew better. Ianto knew that he was on a secure line over their earpieces, talking to Ianto about something, usually distracting them both from their work. Ianto allowed himself a smile at the thought, the memory of trying to keep a straight face around the others. It had been before Jack left, before there had really been a 'them'. The era of the casual shag, as Jack so charmingly put it.

He looked up from where his eyes had settled as the coffee machine clicked to alert him to the process being completed, and he wasn't surprised when he heard Jack hurrying out of his office and down to the area, skidding across the floor and catching hold of Ianto's arms to steady himself. He may not hear a lot of things, but that faint click seemed to blare like an alarm to him.

"Coffee?!" He grinned at Ianto like a child on Christmas morning, and Ianto couldn't do anything but laugh at him. The expression of hopeful happiness was just too adorable to leave alone.

When the laughing had subsided, he looked pointedly at Jack, and waited for him to release his arms. It took Jack a moment to realise, but as soon as he did, he let go of the man as if he'd been on fire, tucking his hands behind his back to keep them out of the way. Ianto just smiled again and went about making the coffee, pulling the cream out of the fridge and pouring the hot brown liquid in one fluid motion.

"So… What were you debating?" Ianto tried to make his question as casual as possible, stirring the coffee slowly to make sure the cream mixed in properly. Last time Owen had attempted to make his own coffee with cream, the cream had split and not mixed in. He'd come shuffling into the Tourist Office looking like a kicked puppy. Ianto had had to go and sort the whole mess out, replacing the coffee with a properly made one and refilling everyone else's mugs at the same time.

"Debating?" Jack raised his eyebrows and looked imploringly at Ianto, not understanding what he meant. Ianto just held out the coffee for him to take and shrugged.

"I was just upstairs, about to ask you if you wanted a drink, and you were kind of... muttering to yourself, I guess." He shrugged again and tried to keep his face passive. Then he noticed a second new thing for the day. Jack Harkness was blushing.

"Jeez… Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" He turned away and avoided the subject, undoing another button on his shirt and rolling his sleeves up to his elbows. Ianto gawped at him in astonishment.

"Jack! Are you _blushing_?" Ianto was almost laughing at the sheer strangeness of the situation, but somehow managed not to.

"No! No, of course not... Why would I?" His casual nonchalance was back, but Ianto knew better. There was something strange about Jack's presence that intrigued him. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't normal. He watched as Jack walked back up to his office, and Ianto quickly followed, not wanting to let the subject drop.

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking." Ianto stood in the doorway and watched Jack shuffle from foot to foot. He was still facing away from him, one hand on his desk, the other cradling the coffee mug. Ianto watched as he took a large mouthful of the coffee and swallowed, following it by another, until the mug was empty and he was placing it on the desk. Actually, he placed it on the coaster on the desk, which made Ianto feel a little bit lighter inside. He paid more attention to the situation at hand when Jack cleared his throat and turned around, his confident smile back in place.

"I'll tell you some other time." He smiled knowingly, picked up their coats and then steered Ianto out of the hub and towards the car.

* * *

Ianto was walking up the stairs of his apartment building, thinking to himself. He'd insisted on going round to the Chinese takeaway, to pick up their order, on his own, and he'd spent the last half hour in quiet contemplation about just what it was that he found so irresistible about Jack. 

It could've been the endless experience that he instituted every night, or it could've been the way he could read Ianto's emotions to well that he was almost reading his mind. It had occurred to him on more than one occasion that he actually could, but he'd tested it out by thinking something outrageous extremely loudly in Jack's presence. It was always along the lines of insulting the size of his manhood, which would've provoked an extremely violent reaction. However, on all occasions, he hadn't batted an eyelid, no sign of a small flash of acknowledgement in those beautiful blue eyes.

He sighed and rounded the corner to the floor his flat was on and was about to walk down it when he heard a very familiar song drifting through the wooden front door he was heading for. He slotted his key into the lock and stopped to listen to the words drifting along with the tune.

"_Well you can go out with him  
Play with all of his toys…"_

A smile was starting to dawn on his face, getting a little wider as he recognised the song.

"…_But takin' care of you darlin'  
Ain't for one of the boys…"_

He chuckled at the thought process that could've lead Jack to put that particular song on. Had he known that it was one of his favourites? Surely not. He probably just found the lyrics funny.

"…_Oh there's somethin' in your soul  
That he's gonna rob…"_

Ianto turned the key in the lock and walked through the door, shutting and locking it behind him. He tossed his keys into the bowl on the table and dumped the bag of food next to it, walking over to stand in the living area, hands in his pockets, next to the sofa Jack was lying on. He was on his back with his legs crossed and his feet propped up on the arm, reading the album sleeve for Human Touch by Bruce Springsteen, the CD in the stereo at the moment.

_"…And lovin' you baby lovin' you darlin'  
Lovin' you woman is a man's, man's job…"_

Jack looked up at him and grinned, taking hold of Ianto's arm and pulling him down into a kiss. Ianto chuckled to himself and pulled back a little, forcing Jack to sit up to catch up with his lips to kiss him again.

_"…Lovin' you's a man's job baby  
Lovin' you's a man's job…"_

Jack kissed him deeply again before pulling back and grinning at him again. Ianto straightened his back and smiled in return, turning away and kicking his shoes off. "You know, what he's saying is the truth…" Jack's voice trailed off as he came up behind Ianto and started kissing his neck, wrapping his arms around his waist.

_"…Lovin' you's a man's job baby  
Lovin' you's a man's job."_

The song continued on into the second verse, but the two men were completely lost in each other, already stripped down to their trousers, kissing passionately. Ianto felt Jack's hands running over his stomach and down into his trousers and shivered as little, moving his own hands up to Jack's face and kissing him hard, almost desperately. He was only a little surprised to feel his desperation and need mirrored by Jack. Something had changed in the past few moments, and a new Jack was appearing. He didn't know whether he it was an improvement or not, but he was about to find out.

* * *

Ianto found himself sitting on the floor, propped up against the sofa about an hour later, eating the re-heated Chinese food that they'd ordered earlier. He was pleased to realise that he didn't feel odd about sitting there with nothing by a sheet wrapped around his waist, as he hadn't been bothered enough about putting some clothes on to do so. It was only because of the slight chill in the air that he'd even bothered with the sheet. 

Of course, to the rest of his body, the cool air was welcome, as they'd both gotten extremely warm over the last hour, to the point where they'd both finished up panting and covered in a sheen of sweat. That in itself wasn't unusual, but the fact that it had taken a good 10 minutes to regain his breath had made Ianto marvel inwardly at Jack's ability to continually surprise him.

He looked up to see the man lying on the sofa again. The throw that normally draped across the back of it was currently covering his midriff and thighs as he attempted to eat his chilli beef and rice with chopsticks. He was failing horribly.

"You could always use a fork?" Ianto looked at him sceptically and Jack just laughed and prodded his nose with the still empty sticks.

"But where's the fun in that? Hmm?" Jack laughed and bent his neck up, practically shovelling some of the food into his mouth.

"That's cheating!" Ianto had put his food down and gotten up, making his way into the kitchen area to find Jack a fork. He was a little startled to see Jack jump off the sofa, pulling the throw around his waist, and head right towards him, grabbing his hand and making him stop the action of pulling the cutlery drawer out. He stared at Ianto with a challenge in his eyes, and Ianto happily accepted.

"What were you debating earlier?" Ianto looked hard into Jack's eyes, willing him to open up and tell him. When Jack made an attempt to go back to the sofa, but Ianto caught his wrist and looked at him pleadingly. "Please, Jack, I just want to know."

Jack regarded him silently for a moment before looking away, the beginning of a blush creeping up his neck. Ianto felt the curiosity in him rise again as Jack mumbled something under his breath. He glanced back at Ianto and sighed exasperatedly as the young man's expression hadn't changed. He looked around the room, flustered, looking anywhere but at Ianto. His nervousness would have been very endearing had it not been stalling the answer Ianto had been seeking all evening. He pulled Jack's face towards him and captured his lips, kissing him gently for a long moment. When he pulled back and looked into Jack's eyes again, he was surprised to see that in the blue depths, there was nothing but affection, trust and respect. There was something else there, something that hadn't been there until very recently. He tried to dig deeper, but Jack interrupted.

"Ianto… There's been something I wanted to… Well, I've been thinking a lot, since I had so much time to think recently, and well, I was trying to settle on the best way to say it… I mean, I've worked out that…" He stopped, swallowed hard and looked straight back at Ianto again. "I've worked out that I love you."

His forehead was creased with worry and vulnerability and Ianto couldn't help the grin that split across his face at those last three words. There was something strangely mystical about hearing them from Jack that made them all the more genuine. It was that which made Ianto kiss the older man again, this time a lot harder, with the confirmation that Jack had obviously been searching for. Ianto felt his lover's hands on the back of his head and neck, holding him in close, as if he would move without them there.

Ianto just kissed Jack harder, wrapping his arms around the bare skin of his torso and tried to let Jack know that he wasn't going to go anywhere, that he as good as owned him. Jack seemed to get the message as he lead Ianto into the bedroom, their lips still locked together.


	17. Chapter 7: Aspirin

I enjoyed writing this one as well! We see a different side to Jack, more like what he was at the beginning of the fic. I really enjoyed writing this one, so I hope you all enjoy reading it.

There we go, not much to really say, on with the show!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any o the characters in Torchwood, they belong to Russel T. Davies and probably always will, I'm just borrowing them for the purposes of entertaining the masses.

_Chapter 7: Aspirin and Nightmares_

Jack managed to sleep again that night, drifting off at some ungodly hour of the morning, Ianto curled up in his arms, both worn out from the night's previous activities.

_He found himself standing in the hub, looking down at the basin, the steady 'drip drip drip' noise echoing up to him. He felt something pull him down from his office, a strange curiosity that he couldn't fight. He eventually found himself staring down at the pool of water. It was the wrong colour, a little darker than usual._

_The dripping continued._

_He bent down to look at the water more closely and noted the different tone. It wasn't colourless or muddy anymore, it looked more red, like it had blood in it. The next drip fell and Jack watched the vibrant red colour disperse out into the increasingly dark area in the middle of the pool. Before the next drop could fall, Jack looked up sharply._

_Ianto was bound and gagged, suspended from the ceiling by roughly hewn ropes. He was dressed, as ever, in an immaculate three piece suit, but there were horrifying differences. The white sleeve cuffs were crimson with the blood covering his hands, and his entire figure was limp. He was completely still, his head slumped forwards on his chest, blood dripping steadily from his angular chin. Dripping…_

_Jack felt the pain and fear bubble up inside him, desperation making him cast around for a way to retrieve his lover's body. The fear increased, making him stop all movements, as he saw a new figure standing where he'd been a minute or so ago. Up by his office, next to the door and leaning on the railing in front of him, was the Doctor. His Doctor. _

_He was looking down at Jack, his light brown hair as dishevelled as it ever was, as it had been the last time they'd seen each other. The black rimmed glasses were perched on the bridge of his nose in an attempt to stop Jack seeing the grief that was contorting his features. The brown coat hung to the floor, and the red converse covered feet were crossed uncomfortably. Jack looked from one man to the other, not knowing what to do, what to say._

"_Jack." The Doctor spoke and attracted all attention to himself. "Jack, I'm sorry. There was nothing I could do."_

"_What? Do what? What happened?!" Jack felt the anger rise up in him, mixing with the fear gripping his heart. The Doctor just looked at something behind Jack and the American whirled around, staring at the wall behind him. There were two words written on the wall, written in blood. Ianto's blood._

_VOTE SAXON_

He jerked awake, breathing heavily and trying to focus on something, anything, in the darkened room around him. He felt another jolt of fear as he realised he couldn't see anything, and swung his arms out as he sat up. His arm connected with something next to him and he heard a grumbled reply.

"Ow." Jack felt his vision adjusting and looked down. Ianto was lying on his side, facing away from him and rubbing his shoulder, muttering darkly to himself, still half asleep. "What the hell, Jack?"

Jack didn't say anything, just looked away and rubbed his eyes. He climbed out of bed and made his way into the living area, uncovering yesterday's boxers and pulling them on before digging out his t-shirt and donning that as well. There was no way he'd be able to sleep again after that. He began to remember just why he'd stopped sleeping to begin with.

Memories of the Gamestation had flooded his dreams for months before he eventually managed to stop himself falling asleep, opting instead for a trance that substituted it, but brought none of the phantoms he usually saw. He looked up and saw Ianto standing in the doorway to the bedroom, the duvet draped around his shoulders. He looked at him sleepily, a slightly worried expression on his face. Jack stood and looked at him with a grimace on his face.

"Yan… go back to bed. You can get a couple more hours of sleep before we have to go back to work. You should make the most of it." He tried to smile, but he knew it wasn't going to convince Ianto. He wasn't surprised when he saw the young man shuffle over to him and envelope him in the duvet, holding him tight and leaning his chin on his shoulder. Jack sighed and wrapped his arms around him, enjoying the warm comfort of Ianto's body against his. "Go back to bed, Ianto."

Ianto pulled away a little and looked up at him, frowning. "Jack, you seriously think that after everything you've done to help me over the last couple of weeks, I'm going to let you wake up, punch me in the shoulder – which actually kind of hurt – and tell me to go back to bed? Knowing full well that you're going to sit out here on your own, thinking about whatever the hell it was that made you do it?"

Jack looked at him, tried to find a way to object, but gave in, allowing Ianto to pull him back into the bedroom.

They lay down together and Jack covered them both up, sighing a little as Ianto curled around him and stroked his hair gently. He looked down at the young man and smiled to see his eyes were closed already. He wasn't asleep, but he wasn't exactly conscious either. He rolled onto his side so that their bodies were very close together and wrapped his arms around Ianto, stroking the small of his back in reply to Ianto caressing his hair.

He found it extremely soothing and soon realised that he'd drifted back off to sleep, though this time, he wasn't plagued with anything.

* * *

The morning's rituals had passed without event. Ianto had woken him up gently with a kiss on the lips and then managed to get him into the shower to make him presentable for work the next day. He'd only succeeded by allowing Jack to pull him under the hot jet of water alongside him. 

Ianto had maintained his focus and with the minimum of distractions, they were washed, dressed and ready to go to work, slightly to Jack's annoyance. He couldn't stay annoyed for long though, as he soon realised how funny it was that after such a short amount of time, they were acting like the last week or so had been several years. On the way to the hub, Jack had insisted on getting blueberry pancakes from the same café as before and when they finally did get into work, the two of them sat together in the board room and enjoyed their breakfast.

The others had turned up an hour or so later, asking for coffee. Ianto had complied, as always, and left Jack to his work. The rest of the morning had been filled with paperwork, avoiding the local police and sending a Tourist spacecraft out of the orbit after giving them a brief history of the planet. Jack had been amazed at how quickly Tosh covered the billions of years of the Earth's existence. About 20 minutes after the alert, the ship was zooming off to it's next destination.

Late that afternoon, the team had been alerted to a Weevil going topside, and Jack, Gwen and Owen had left to pick it up, Tosh directing them from the hub. They'd returned an hour or so later with the Weevil in tow. Jack was in a very bad mood. He'd stormed in with the Weevil and thrown it down into the cell next to Janet. He'd had just about enough of Weevils. All they ever did was go topside, sit in a cell for a week and then get released back into the sewers. Apart from Janet, but that was a different story.

When he'd emerged from the vaults, he'd tried to shut himself in his office, but was redirected by Owen and dragged down into the autopsy bay.

"You may be immortal and heal at twice the rate of a normal human being, but you need that stitched and cleaned to avoid scarring." Owen poked the gashes in Jack's back to reinforce his point and Jack cringed away from the pain.

"Ow! Christ, Owen, where's the tact?" Jack snapped at the doctor, trying to lean away from him. Owen just raised an eyebrow and pulled the ripped shirt and undershirt off him. He moved round behind Jack and looked at the damage the Weevil had done.

Jack was sitting hunched over, glowering at the wall in front of him and trying to ignoring the throbbing pains in his back. Of course, he was quite entitled to be annoyed at the pain, as there were three parallel gases across the middle of his back, all about seven or eight inches long. They were still bleeding a little and Jack's back was covered in half congealed blood. All the flesh around the gashes had turned a dark purple colour, and Owen had to be careful not to apply too much pressure.

Owen set about cleaning the Captain up, washing the wounds and applying antiseptic cream to them, ignoring the angry yelps and hisses issuing from the injured man. He grimaced at the decolouration of Jack's skin. It had spread round his sides a little and further up and down his spine. He shook his head in sympathy and carried on, being as gentle as he could. Jack inwardly noted that Owen could, when he wanted to, be sensitive enough to reduce the amount of pain caused by his actions to a minimum. He may need to use it next time Owen made a snipe at Tosh about her love of technology.

Eventually, Owen had taped up the wounds and dressed them, wrapping the bandage tightly around Jack's torso. He knew that Jack wouldn't need normal stitches on his back, as during the process of cleaning up the wounds, they'd already started to knit back together. Owen seriously doubted if Jack would pay any attention at all to the damage that evening, as they both knew the skin and muscles would be healed by the morning, nothing more than a bit of tenderness left to remind them of what had happened the day before. He let the grumpy American make his way out of the room, the ripped garments in his hand trailing along the floor behind him.

Jack moved sluggishly up to his office and Ianto looked up at him as he passed. Jack looked extremely tired underneath the simmering annoyance in his features. He decided to make everyone a cup of coffee and go up to find out what was wrong.

He quickly made the usual orders and passed them around to the others before taking Jack's up to his office, knocking on the door gently. He heard a grunt from inside and gingerly pushed the door open a little further and looked in. Jack had decided against putting a new shirt on and was sitting in his chair, arms folded on the desk and his head buried in them. Ianto felt his heart jump into his throat as he noticed the dark bruises spilling out from under the bandages and felt a small stab of sympathy as he realised just how much the man's back must be hurting.

He shuffled in, closed the door again and placed the coffee and two aspirins on the desk in front of him, retreating back to the door as Jack looked up a little, eyes fixed on the mug before him. He eased his back straight and took a mouthful of the coffee, groaning a little as his back twinged.

"Now that's what I'm talking about…" He closed his eyes and sighed before feeling for the pills, throwing them in his mouth and swallowing them down with another mouthful of coffee. He was about to lean back, but remembered just in time that his back was in no state to me leant on, an annoyed growl following. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at Ianto, gesturing for him to come over.

Ianto nodded and moved closer, not sure what Jack wanted.

"You don't have to look so scared of me, you know." He smiled a little and reached out to pull Ianto closer to him. When Ianto was standing next to his chair, he gingerly pushed himself out up and faced Ianto, stroking his cheek gently and looking at him with an odd expression in his eyes.

A flicker of memory rose in Ianto's mind as he recognised the look. The last time he'd seen it had been in the Tourist Office after John had been sent back through the rift. It was the exact same mixture of pain and longing that he'd been so startled by before.

He wrapped his arms gently around Jack, one above the wounds, one below, and held him close, relieved to feel Jack's arms meeting around his waist. He felt the weight of Jack's head on his shoulder and leant his head gently on it. He felt Jack's breathing become a little ragged, his shoulders heaving a little bit as he cried in Ianto's arms.

The young man closed his eyes and whispered soothingly to his lover, trying to ease the pain he was obviously feeling. They stood there for several minutes before Jack's breathing evened out and his arms tightened around Ianto's waist again. The young man moved one of his own hands to stroke Jack's hair comfortingly again, knowing that it had helped him get to sleep earlier that day and hoping it would have the same sort of effect now.

He looked over at the clock on Jack's desk and saw that it was almost 8:30 pm. The others would be wanting to go home soon. He gently moved his arms from around Jack's body and kissed him on the forehead as he watched the older man staring at the ground, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

Ianto left the office and went round to the workstations, heading for Owen's first. Jack leaned on the railing outside his office door and watched the two men muttering to each other, then moving off to get both the women away from the work and ready to leave. Jack sighed heavily and turned his back on the scene, venturing into his office to retrieve clean upper body clothes from the storage locker tucked away in a corner of the room. He gingerly pulled the white undershirt over his head, wincing as the tender muscles in his back screamed at him to give them a rest. He stood and gave himself a chance to recover before pulling the light blue shirt on and buttoning it up.

He shuffled back out into the hub as he stuffed the shirt into his trousers and slipped his suspenders back over his shoulders. He almost immediately regretted it as he yelped as the elasticised accessory slapped into place down the middle of his back. Ianto was standing alone now, turning off the computers and looked up at Jack, concern on his face.

Seeing the slightly pathetic expression in Jack's eyes, he made his way up to him and took his face in his hands and captured his mouth gently. When he pulled away, Jack had straightened a little and some of his usual boyish manner was back. Ianto made his way into the office and turned off all the appliances that required it before unhooking Jack's coat and helping the older man shrug it on.

They made their way out of the hub and back to Ianto's car. It was starting to be normal for the two of them to return to Ianto's cosy flat. Jack smiled wistfully to himself. There was something comforting about knowing he was wanted somewhere else than the hub.


	18. Chapter 8: Baths

I feel so productive today! I've made a huge dent in my school work, I've done a picture of Gareth David-Lloyd for my art work and written two chapters! Gah, I love writing this story sometimes! I especialyl love writing this relationship, the way they help each otehr get over obstacles and stuff, getting through things together but having fun at the same time.

I shall stop rambling and just let you guys read the overflow of my overactive brain. Please enjoy it and review!

(Kudos to **muppetmadness** for the 100th review! Plot Bunny time!)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything in here sadly... They belong to Russel T. Davies who should really start letting Jack play with Ianto more.

_

* * *

_

_Chapter 8: Baths and Heart-to-Hearts_

A soon as they got back to the flat, Ianto removed his jacket, rolled his sleeves up and went into the en suite bathroom, leaving Jack sitting on the bed. Jack watched the young man as he knelt beside the bathtub and watched the steaming water fill the tub.

"Bubbles?" It Jack took a moment to register what Ianto had said, but as soon as it did, he yelled in affirmation and Ianto turned round to smile at him. That was his Jack, ever the child at heart.

He finished running the bath, and turned to Jack and walked into the bedroom. He motioned for Jack to stand up and turn around, and Jack obeyed, undoing the buttons on his shirt quickly. Carefully, Ianto helped him remove the suspenders and ease his arms out of the shirt. Then, with a little more care, he pulled Jack's undershirt off and removed the bandages. He checked the wounds and found that the had already scabbed over, but the bruising was as livid as ever. He determined that the butterfly stitches were now pointless and gently removed them, only making Jack tense up a couple of times. He then turned Jack around and pointed to the bathroom.

"Go. I'll bring you a coffee in a minute." Jack nodded and smiled in thanks before going into the bathroom and removing his trousers and boxers. After struggling a little with having to bend over, he managed to free himself and climb into the deliciously warm water. He let out a loud, involuntary moan of pleasure as his aching muscles started to relax. He sunk down into the water and lay with his eyes closed, a dopey smile on his face.

He was jerked back to reality after a few gloriously soothing minutes to find Ianto standing in the doorway and grinning at him, two cups of coffee in his hand. He moved across the room and handed one to Jack before settling himself on the floor, leaning his back on the radiator. Jack noted that he'd unbuttoned his waistcoat and removed his shoes and socks. He'd never thought about it before, but now that he did, he couldn't remember a time in the flat when Ianto had been wearing just socks. He smiled at Ianto and drank some of his coffee, feeling like he could have actually died and gone to heaven.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Ianto looked at him, an earnest expression on his face. "Jack?" Jack had his eyes closed again and hummed Ianto a signal to continue. "It's just… I was wondering whether you wanted to talk about today, and last night."

Jack sighed and opened his eyes, sitting up and clutching his coffee mug in both hands. He took another mouthful, considered what he was going to say and looked at Ianto.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's more a case of I don't know how." He looked at Ianto apologetically.

"Just try…" Ianto's voice was soft and inspired a brave sort of confidence in Jack's head.

"Okay. I think it's because I started sleeping again." Ianto frowned a little. "Yeah, I know it's weird, but just hear me out. I stopped sleeping a long time ago, after the accident that brought me back to life. For some reason, I've started to sleep again. Not all night every night, just a few hours here and there. I thought it was okay… The reason I stopped sleeping in the first place was because of nightmares, because I was getting them every single night and I had no way of stopping them. Waking up in fear every few hours, thinking that you're world came crashing down only to find it's still standing. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore and stopped sleeping."

Jack turned his gaze to a tile in front of him and thought some more about whether he should go into details of what had made him want to break down earlier in the day. He just couldn't shake the image of Ianto's blood on the wall. He suddenly shuddered and opened his eyes, looking back at Ianto, the worried little frown creasing his forehead.

"I just had a nightmare last night, that's all." He smiled apologetically, putting his coffee on the side, and sank back into the water, this time going right under to wet his hair. He stayed there for a moment before sliding back up and looking round at Ianto, wondering what he was thinking. They stayed there for a while, just looking at each other. Eventually though, Ianto stood up, drained his mug and smiled at Jack.

"I'll leave you in peace for a bit. Just give me a yell if you need me." He turned to leave and was about to walk out when Jack spoke.

"Ianto?" He turned around to Jack looking at him. His blue eyes were open, deep and expressive, glittering with an emotion that he couldn't find the words to tell Ianto about. Ianto stood there and waited patiently for him to carry on. Jack lifted one of his hands from the hot water and beckoned him over. Ianto moved closer and Jack reached out and pulled the young man down into a kiss, a deep, meaningful kiss.

When they broke apart, Ianto smiled at him and Jack nodded slightly. He watched Ianto leave before sinking back into the water to enjoy the heat a while longer.

Ianto heard the second sigh of pleasure, quieter this time, as he moved through to the living area. He went to his sound system and flicked it on, watching the green LCD display shimmer into life. He turned the volume down low so he'd be able to hear Jack if he needed him, then moved over to the opposite side of the room to drop onto the sofa and open his book.

He managed to get through almost the entire album and three chapters of the novel before he heard the sounds of Jack trying to get out of the bath. He sighed, closed the book and went through to the bathroom. Jack was standing in there with a thick white towel wrapped around his waist. To Ianto's dismay, he saw Jack was dripping bathwater all over the floor. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from yelling at Jack. He just kept telling himself that it was the bathroom, the floor was waterproof, it was designed to get wet. Jack looked up at him and grinned sheepishly.

"Stay right where you are. If you so much as step towards the door, I'm putting a bullet though your head." Jack laughed at the irritation in the young man's voice but stayed where he was. When it came to Ianto and keeping his flat clean, he didn't even want to gamble a visit to the other side. He had a feeling that Ianto would be true to his word.

He looked down and wriggled his toes, smiling at how pink they were from the hot water. He saw Ianto's pale feet join his own and then felt a second towel being draped over his back and head. He looked up to see Ianto smiling at him. He smiled in return as Ianto started to rub his hair dry, gently yet effectively. The look of concentration on Ianto's face was so sweet that Jack couldn't help himself.

He reached around Ianto and wrapped his arms around the young man, pulling him close as he continued to dry his hair. He heard a faint chuckle escape the Welshman's lips and grinned back at him.

His back was already feeling better for the bath, and he guessed the wounds were practically healed up by now. Feeling encouraged, he untucked Ianto's shirt and ran his hands up his lover's back, leaning in close to kiss Ianto's lips.

The young man let himself be pulled into the kiss, enjoying the contact, but when Jack's hands moved down his spine and in the waistband of his trousers, he applied pressure Jack's back lightly with his fingertips. The older man yelped and jerked away in pain, looking at Ianto accusingly.

"What was that for?!" The indignance in his voice was evident, and Ianto took the momentary release as an opportunity to slip behind Jack and wrap the towel tighter around him, pushing him forwards by the back of his hips, careful to avoid the bruising.

"You need to be careful tonight. I don't want to get a bollocking off Owen when he finds out you can't move because your back hurts too much." Jack chuckled at that and allowed Ianto to sit him down on the bed. He watched as the young man delved into a chest of drawers and pulled out a t-shirt and retrieved Jack's newly cleaned boxers from the living area. He raised his eyebrows as Ianto came back into the room.

"I feel like you're being my mum." He said dryly as Ianto threw the clothes at him and ordered him to get dressed.

"That may be, but I think there's some things that I do that your mum didn't… Or at least, I REALLY hope she didn't." The two men looked at each other before bursting out in fits of laughter.

"Don't worry, there's some things that no one else but you can do." The laughter calmed and they looked at each other again before Jack bent down and pulled the boxers on and removed the towels which were promptly thrown into the bathroom by Ianto. He moved back over to Jack and held the t-shirt open for him to slip his arms through.

As Jack's arms moved through the sleeves, he grabbed Ianto's and pulled the young man down into a kiss as soon as he pushed his head through the garment as well. Ianto kissed him hard as he pulled the material down over his back.

When he pulled away, Jack slipped his arms around Ianto's waist and rested his forehead on the man's stomach, rubbing his nose against the slightly damp material of his shirt. He felt Ianto run his fingers through his hair and hummed happily, making Ianto laugh a little as the vibrations struck his abdomen. The words he'd wanted to say earlier finally flooded from him.

"You died last night, Ianto." He looked up at the young man. Ianto felt a jolt of concern at his words. "You were hanging in the hub, your throat cut. The Master… You were dead and I couldn't have saved you."

He leaned his forehead back on Ianto's stomach and was relieved to feel Ianto's fingers stroking his hair again. It really did seem to calm him down. He felt the young man drop to his knees and move his hands to either side of Jack's face, looking at him seriously.

"It was just a bad dream, Jack." He smiled a little and carried on looking straight into Jack's eyes. He let go of Jack's face and took hold of one of his hands, using his other to loosen his tie, undo a few buttons of his shirt and pull it open. He moved Jack's hand over his heart and placed it on his skin, his eyes never leaving Jack's. "I'm still here, Jack, still breathing."

Jack felt tears welling in his eyes, threatening to fall from the corners as he looked at Ianto, so trusting and caring. He saw just how deep Ianto's emotions ran, just how much the young man needed him. He felt Ianto's other hand on his face, his thumb brushing away the tears that were falling. In one sudden movement, Jack leaned forwards and captured Ianto's lips desperately, as if to reinforce Ianto's presence. His hand was still on his chest and he could feel the comforting, reliable beat of his heart up his palm. He eventually pulled away, his mind now completely sure that Ianto was real and the dream wasn't.

"I died so many times, but it was okay as long as you were safe, as long as he couldn't get to you… I love you so much, Ianto." Jack's voice was quiet, and Ianto felt himself struggle not to cry at the heartfelt confession that was coming from Jack. He moved both hands to his face and rested his forehead on his own. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to lull the feeling of helplessness he was feeling for his lover. He felt Jack's hands move to his neck, stroking his skin gently, unsure where to settle.

"Jack. You're here now. The Master's dead, and you're here. We're as alive as we ever were." They both opened their eyes and looked at each other. "Jack, I love you too."

He smiled encouragingly and leaned forwards to kiss Jack gently, to back up his words and show him just how alive they were. Ianto felt the tension in Jack's shoulders and chest release itself as he gently pulled back, his eyes still closed. Ianto smiled at the peaceful expression on the older man's face and took advantage of the moment to move to the other side of the bed and pull the covers back. He watched Jack briefly as he crawled under the covers and drew them over himself. Smiling wistfully, Ianto turned away and went to shut off the sound system in the other room.

He came back into the bedroom and found his pyjama trousers, then moved into the bathroom and hung the towels up to dry, releasing the bath water and putting Jack's clothes in a corner. He changed out of his suit and pulled on the trousers, preferring not to wear a t-shirt in bed.

He scooped up his clothes and dumped them in the linen basket in the corner of his bedroom. Shutting off the lights in the living area, then the bathroom, and finally in the bedroom, he made his way over to the bed and slipped under the covers on the other side of the bed to Jack. He found him lying on his side, facing outwards. Ianto moved behind him and bent his knees up to fit Jack's legs, slipping an arm around his waist and being careful to avoid touching the bruises on his back.

He kissed the back of Jack's neck gently and felt hands on his own, wrapping around his arms and keeping them in place. He wasn't sure how long they laid there together, but before long, he felt even more tension leave Jack's body as he slipped into sleep. Not long after that, he felt himself following.


	19. Chapter 9: Phone Calls

My chatpers seem to be settling into a good length now (I hope you all agree). I have come to a decision about this fic! I am going to do 13 Parts (as in, there are 13 episodes to a series) with 10 chapters each, so that's still a long long way tog o, so never fear! I JUST read that they might be diluting Torchwood and getting rid of Jack and Owen and Tosh and I think I may actually cry... I still don't know what's to happen to Ianto if all hell breaks loose... But that's THE worst news I've ever heard, and I wish I never had now...

To anyone who's interested (mainly Judy, as she's the one who asked), I mentioned a picture of Gareth David-Lloyd that I did for my art coursework, and I uploaded it to my deviant art, surrendered-suicide. Search me, and it's my latest deviation.

Have a gander at that if you feel like it, but don't worry if not! I'm going to be writing Part 2: Chapter 10 sometime this week, and then taking a brief hiatus (as in, a week or so) to allow me to get all my coursework and my saxophone grading out of the way! When the stuff's done, there will be more chapters, don't worry!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Torchwood or any of it's characters... If I did, there wouldn't even be a rumour of Jack being sent away and Torchwood being made into a 'family freindly' Doctor Who filler series... Sacrilige I tell you! I may just write to Russel T. Davies to express my severe displeasure with the notion.

_Chapter 9: Phone calls and Familiar Faces_

The next morning was much more like Jack remembered their first night sleeping in Ianto's flat. He woke up yawning, refreshed after a peaceful and empty night's sleep. Keeping his eyes closed, he'd flexed his back to make sure it was healed and he was glad to find that there was nothing more than a very light bruising left.

Smiling to himself, he'd rolled over, expecting to see Ianto gone, but was surprised to see the young man splayed out on his front, an arm hanging out from under the covers. Jack poked Ianto gently in the back of his shoulder and had to bite back a laugh as Ianto groaned in protest and attempted to bat Jack's hand away. Curious, Jack poked him again, a little harder. Again, Ianto groaned at him, but this time, he attempted to roll away from the source of the disturbance. He settled on the other side of the bed, facing Jack.

As he rolled, he pulled the duvet with him and Jack felt cold air slip over his bare legs and shivered a little. Frowning at Ianto's now peaceful body, he leaned forwards maliciously and blew gently on his lover's nose. He heard another groan of protest and Ianto rolled over again. This time, there was a shortage of mattress underneath him and as Ianto rolled, he fell to the floor, hitting his head off the bedside table with a sickening _thwack_.

Jack nervously crawled across the bed and peered over the edge. He couldn't stop the laugh that escaped him as he saw the tangle of the dark brown duvet and Ianto's pale limbs. He was tempted to poke it with his foot to see if Ianto was still alive, but found that he didn't need to as heard a steady stream of semi-coherent swearing coming from under the covers. He retreated a little as Ianto pulled himself from the duvet and stumbled into the bathroom, rubbing the back of his head and wincing as he flicked the light on.

Jack just sat, cross legged, and watched Ianto splash his face with cold water gushing from the tap. He filled the basin up and plunged his entire head under the surface. Jack watched the morning ritual with a confused expression on his face, which soon turned to anxiety. His breath caught in his throat as the seconds ticked by. It had been almost a minute.

Finally, with a loud gasp and a couple of coughs, Ianto surfaced, flicking his head up and causing water to fly off in an arc over his head. He stood leaning on the basin and staring into the mirror as he caught his breath. After a few more minutes, he reached behind him for a hand towel and buried his face into the soft white material, heading back into the bedroom.

He stood beside the bed and rubbed his hair vigorously before dropping the towel around his neck and reaching forward to grab Jack's hand and drag him through to the kitchen.

"You're not very talkative, are you?" Jack prodded him in the back, his voice extremely amused. Ianto just grunted, dropped his hand and went to the fridge. He retrieved the large carton of orange juice from it and opened it, gulping down what must've been half the contents before closing it and putting it back. He shuffled over to the kettle and flicked it on before sinking onto a stool and leaning forwards until his forehead was resting on the counter.

Jack chuckled and moved around behind him, running a finger lightly over the pronounced ridge of the young man's spine. Ianto twitched and his head smacked off the tiled surface beneath it. He groaned and moved a hand to his forehead, sitting up slowly and twisting to glare accusingly at Jack.

"Awww, Ianto, I'm sorry." He took the young man's hand away and kissed the red patch on his head, wrapping his arms around him and holding him close. He couldn't stop the little smile that came when Ianto rested his head on Jack's chest, the feeling was just too nice. "I'm really sorry, I should've thought."

Ianto made several noises that sounded like: "Yeah, you should've.", "Just tired." And "Don't worry about it."

Jack smiled and stroked the back of Ianto's head gently, careful to avoid applying too much pressure to the bump from earlier. He looked around the living area as he did so. His eyes didn't move far before they fell on a pile of washed, dried and folded clothes that could have belonged to him. He pushed Ianto back and looked down at him. Ianto's eyes met his with an earnest expression in them.

"How long were you up for?" Ianto just shrugged, yawned and climbed off the stool to make the coffees. A minute or so later, Jack took the proffered mug and enjoyed the first taste of the day. He watched Ianto shuffle off to the bedroom sleepily, drinking the coffee in his own hands.

Jack decided now would be a good time to get dressed, so he made sure the blinds were closed and pulled his trousers on, replacing Ianto's old t-shirt with his clean undershirt and navy blue button down. He carefully slipped the suspenders on, a memory of yesterday evening flashing in his mind like a warning. He shuddered involuntarily and pulled his socks and boots on.

Moving back towards the kitchen, he finished his coffee and cobbled together some cheese on toast, placing it haphazardly on the grill and stuffing it under the flames. He watched it carefully, waiting for the precise moment when the cheese would be melted all the way through, but the bread wouldn't be burnt.

He caught it just in time and pulled the grill pan out, sliding the food onto a plate and cutting it up. He was rather proud of himself and looked up happily to see Ianto shuffling back into the living area. He was in a different three piece suit to the day before, the jacket slung over his shoulder and the waist coat unbuttoned. He yawned again and ruffled his hair before heading over to the breakfast bar and pulling a slice of cheese on toast off the plate and taking a bite.

He looked up at Jack and gave him a thumbs up before turning away from him to pull his shoes and socks on, the toast held between his teeth. He sat up and rested his elbows on the counter, finishing the slice of toast happily before doing the waistcoat up over his magenta shirt and tightening his dark purple tie in place before shrugging on the jacket and running his fingers through his hair again.

One more yawn and he was dragging Jack out of the apartment, locking up behind them and making his way clumsily down the stairs to the car.

* * *

At around 3 in the afternoon, Ianto swung round Jack's door and pointed to the phone on his desk. 

"Jack, Line 1, someone from U.N.I.T. Says it's important business." Jack nodded and silently took in the tired expression and the bags under the young man's beautiful blue eyes. Ianto smiled briefly before leaving the office and getting back to his work. He was helping Tosh run a new system she'd designed to help make the Rift Predictor more reliable. God knows it would help them all.

Jack sighed heavily, rubbed his eyes and picked the phone up, holding the receiver to his ear as he leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk as he so often did.

"How can I help you today?" Jack's voice was dry and a little sarcastic. He knew exactly how this conversation was going to go. A minor employee would be following up on something that had long ago been dealt with. He really didn't have the time for it.

"Is that any way for you to talk to your superiors?" A familiar voice drifted down the phone line to him, making his feet slip off the desk and crash to the floor, his chair jerking him upright as he stared at the opposite wall of his office in shock. The voice on the other end laughed happily and Jack could hear the wonderful smile in the following words. "Captain Jack Harkness. I never thought I'd see the day when you were lost for words!"

Jack started to grin at the mock teasing, feeling a chuckle follow it as a completely genuine happiness flooded him. "Martha Jones!"

"Jack! It's so great to talk to you again!" She sounded a little older, but he could tell it was the same old Martha who'd fussed over him the first time she'd seen him, dead on the floor beside the TARDIS. How innocent she'd been then. The past year had changed her, true, but she was tough and sounded just as cheerful as she always had been.

"U.N.I.T., eh? You should've told me you were looking for a job!" Jack was grinning to himself, feeling a strange pride for the girl, as if she'd been a long lost daughter.

"I wasn't, that's the thing! I was graduated from Medical School early, and scooped up by them almost straight away! I'm thinking I had a little help from you-know-who." If they'd been facing each other, the two would've exchanged knowing looks. "Anyhow, the reason I'm calling is that, first off, a guy with an amazing Welsh accent called me up just now and asked if I knew you, and secondly, I'm in Cardiff for work and was wondering whether I could drop round, see what you've done with the place?"

Jack smiled to himself, thinking about the man the 'amazing Welsh accent' belonged to. He made a mental note to kiss him extra hard later on in thanks. Then he turned his attention to the second matter. He couldn't have been more pleased to have Martha come visit the hub, and he told her that.

"Right then, I'll see you in a couple of hours by the water tower in the bay." They exchanged a few more pleasantries before hanging up. Jack sighed and managed to concentrate enough to finish the work he had left to do.

Two hours later, Jack was standing on the 'invisible elevator', rising towards the surface. When he reached the pavement, he stood for a moment on the perception filter and looked around. He spotted the person he was looking for straight away.

Martha Jones was standing a few feet from him and looking out at the water. She was wearing black leather biker jacket and dark jeans, a grey t-shirt underneath and a khaki messenger bag slung across her shoulders. She looked a little older, her hairstyle more suited to one of U.N.I.T.'s high flying medical officers, down with her fringe clipped back, but no matter how grown up she now looked, he knew she would still be as exuberant as ever.

He stepped off the slab towards her, a huge grin plastered on his face as she turned and smiled in reply. He stepped forwards and enveloped her in a hug. He pulled away and put an arm around her shoulders, winking and steering her onto the perception filter. They chattered like school girls as the elevator sunk down into the hub, neither of them batting an eyelid as the pterodactyl swooped around them into its cave.

When the elevator reached the bottom, Jack stepped off first and held his hand out for Martha. She took it and grinned at him, putting on a posh voice as she thanked him, both of them starting to laugh as soon as she was standing on the floor.

"People!" Jack stood and faced the workstations, the other four members of Torchwood 3 looking up at him. Tosh peered around the edge of her computers; Gwen looked up from the files spread across her desk; Owen leaned on the door frame to the autopsy bay with an irritated look on his face; Ianto straightened up from leaning over a file on Tosh's desk and smiled. They all redirected their attentions to the pretty young woman standing behind Jack. "Everyone, meet Martha Jones."

Jack's face had split into a grin again as they all made their way over to shake Martha's hand and greet her.

"Martha, this is Toshiko Sato, computer genius." He watched as Tosh leaned forwards to shake her hand, a little embarrassed about how Jack had introduced her. Martha just smiled cheerily at her, knowing precisely what the other woman must have been feeling. Jack had a way of complimenting people to the point of excruciation. She watched as Tosh scurried off to attend to a bleeping from one of her many computers.

"Next is Gwen Cooper, the conscience of Torchwood 3." Gwen rolled her eyes and smiled at Martha, shaking her hand as well. Gwen followed Tosh back to the workstations, no doubt wanting to watch Jack's interactions with Martha from a distance.

"Owen Harper, in charge of dissecting all things dead and alien." Owen raised his hands to show the rubber gloves covered in some purplish blood like liquid.

"I would, but maybe you don't want to dive straight into alien insides." He gave her a genuine smile and nodded politely before excusing himself.

"And finally, this is Ianto Jones. Makes the best damn coffee you'll ever have." Ianto moved forwards to greet Martha, sharing a significant look with the young lady before moving off to Tosh's workstation to assist in clearing up the malfunction. "He also looks good in a suit."

"I heard that." Ianto didn't even look up, just calling his disapproval from across the hub. Jack smiled at Martha and lead her up to his office.

"He looks even better out of one." Jack murmered in Martha's ear as they climbed up the stairs, causing the young lady to grin and laugh out loud as she headed into the office in front of him.

"I heard that as well!"

"How could you have heard that?!" Jack looked around incredulously. He was a little dumbfounded as Ianto just looked at him sceptically and rolled his eyes.

"Go on, before I file a harassment suit." Ianto smiled a little then and nodded gently, urging Jack to go into his office and talk to Martha. Replying with a nod, Jack smiled and turned on his heel, heading into his office. He was about to drop into his chair when he suddenly remembered something.

"Sorry, just remembered something I have to do, I'll only be a minute." Jack grinned and headed back out of the office, Martha following him to stand and look over the railing outside. She watched as Jack jogged round to the Welshman and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him away from the monitor he was studying. She smiled to herself as she saw the Jack kiss the young man for a long moment, and turned back into the office, taking a seat in the visitors chair.

When Jack appeared in the doorway, she just gave him a sideways look and grinned at him.


	20. Chapter 10: Talks

Okay guys, please, pleas, PLEASE enjoy this chapter (and don't kill me?) for the next week. I'll be back to writing perhaps at the weekend, though don't count on it. I will faithfully begin Part 3 next thursday (roughly). Don't fret!

This is more of a transition chapter, bringing Part 2 into Part 3. I hate to say it, but jack and Ianto are going to have to go on the rocks slightly for the next part or so, just to keep the story alive and beating (don't worry, I would NEVER split them up, never ever ever) and heading in a good direction for them.

I've thought of a funny little one shot which I migth write up if I have the time over the weekend, so make sure you check it out if it appears.. It'll just be a fun little crack fic inspired by reading a fic earlier today and watching and episode of Friends!

But yes, enjoy this for now, and please don't forget about me and the fic over the week!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Torchwood or any other character which may appear before you, they all belong to Russel T. Davies. If he gets rid of ANY of them, I'm going to attempt to sue for emotional damages, as I don't exactly know what my Torchwood deprived mind will do if they get rid of Jack, Tosh and Owen and make Torchwood a bedtime story read by Gwen -hisses-

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* * *

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_Chapter 10: Talks and Visitors_

Jack and Martha quickly lost track of time up in the dimly lit little office. They sat and talked for hours, catching up on what had happened to the other since they'd last seen each other, talking about how their lives were back on track. Jack discovered that Martha had a boyfriend and that she was happy with him, rarely thinking of the Doctor anymore. He was glad, on a deep level, as she'd been through so much. The last thing she needed was to pine over a man who'd never be able to commit to her. She'd poked and prodded Jack about his personal life until he caved and confessed to his relationship with Ianto, grinning despite himself.

"So, you two…?" Martha's eyes were glittering with interest, a quirky smile on her face. She wriggled her shoulders a bit, unsure what to say.

"Sleep together?" Jack's eyebrows raised in amusement. He was sitting back in his chair, feet propped up on the desk and arms behind his head.

"Yeah." Martha looked a little embarrassed, but nevertheless looked intently at the American, waiting for his answer. She was getting more intrigued by the second.

"We used to…" Jack sat forwards and leaned his elbows on the desk, knitting his fingers together and studying Martha over the top of them. He noted how the light in her eyes dimmed a little and she cast about for something else to say. "Now we date as well."

She looked sharply back at him, her mouth a little open in shock. Jack laughed loudly at that and leaned back in his chair again, dodging as Martha threw a pen at him. He was still grinning at the playful scowl on her features when Tosh knocked gently on the door and opened it a little.

"Jack, I'm going to take off. Owen and Gwen left about an hour ago, so I figured you wouldn't mind." Jack looked over and then glanced at the clock on the desk. Martha looked too and swore gently under her breath at seeing how late it was.

"Oh God, Tosh I'm sorry. I should've come down and let you all know-"

"Jack! Don't worry about it! As you can see, Gwen and Owen didn't mind, and I had some last minute things to do on the Rift Predictor." She smiled at the guilty look on Jack's face. "Seriously, don't worry about it. You might want to go let Ianto know he can head home… He burned out on the sofa downstairs a while ago. I had to stop Owen drawing on him."

Jack stood up and walked to the door, gesturing Martha to follow him and Tosh to lead the way down to the work stations. He smiled as he saw Ianto splayed out on his front, an arm sticking over the edge of the sofa. It was similar to how Jack had seen him first thing in the morning. He waved goodbye to Tosh and watched her exit through the huge cog door, then turned his attention to his sleeping lover, registering in his mind that Martha had headed over to the kitchen area to make herself a drink.

Remembering the experience of waking Ianto up earlier, he gently kissed the young man awake and waited for him to come round of his own accord. He didn't want Ianto falling to the ground for a second time. Jack watched as the stormy blue eyes blinked open a few times and screwed up again before opening fully to look at him. Ianto smiled and pushed himself up, swinging his legs round to sit up. Jack put a hand on his head and stroked it gently. He turned his attention back to Jack and looked up at the man standing in front of him.

"You going to stay here tonight?" Jack's voice was gentle and Ianto silently thanked him for it. He had the beginnings of a killer headache and he felt more tired than he'd been before he drifted off. He always thought he could survive on a small amount of sleep, but apparently 3 hours a night for a week or so wasn't enough. Yawning, he managed to shrug in reply to Jack's question.

"I dunno… I don't think I have any more clean clothes left here." He rubbed his eyes and stretched his back out before looking back at Jack. "Do you want me to stay?"

Jack stroked his hair gently as Ianto leaned his head against his stomach. "I'd like it if you did, but I'm not going to make you… I think you need to get a good night's sleep really."

"Jack, don't pull that crap on me." Ianto sighed and wrapped his arms around Jack's waist, closing his eyes as they became suddenly too heavy to keep open. "If you want me to stay, I'll stay."

His voice was a little muffled, but Jack understood. He smiled to himself and gently eased Ianto back onto the sofa, lying him down. He had a sneaking suspicion that he'd be asleep within minutes. He looked over his shoulder and saw Martha looking around at him, a knowing smile on her face. He just smiled back, checked Ianto, then moved over to the kitchen area so as not to disturb the young man.

"He looks really tired." She looked sympathetically at Ianto before switching her attention back to Jack. "You should give him more time off."

"Why does everyone always blame me?" Jack laughed and leaned back on the counter. "The amount of times I've told him to take a day off or go home early… He never listens, always insists that his work can't wait until tomorrow." He sighed and looked over at Ianto, an expression on his face that Martha hadn't seen before in the American.

"You love him, don't you?" Jack looked round sharply and narrowed his eyes at her a little, but remained silent. "You do!"

Jack just smiled again and looked around the hub. "There's some things that happen that bring everything into perspective, last year being one of them. My mind used to flick to happier times and places, and more often than not, it was Ianto that stopped _him_ breaking me."

Martha patted him on the back and they stood in silence for a minute or so before Martha looked down at her watched a swore lightly again.

"Crap! Jack, I'm really sorry, but I'm going to have to head off now. I'm supposed to have checked in to my hotel by now." She looked apologetically up at Jack and found him smiling.

"Ever the professional!" He took her hand and led her onto the elevator, pressing a few buttons on his wrist strap and making it ascend through the hub. He was vaguely aware of Martha's hand gripping his tightly as the elevator came to a halt at ground level. He guided her off the paving slab and they walked silently in the direction of the hotel from the water tower.

That's when things got a little strange for Jack and Martha.

They were halfway across the plaza when Jack froze in place, causing Martha to look around. She barely had a chance to form the question in her head when she heard the noise that had stopped Jack dead.

They could hear the tell tale grinding siren getting louder and louder. Jack whirled around and saw a faded blue light get gradually more opaque, hovering in midair, eventually followed by a large wooden box. If the sun had still been up, the two stunned people would've been able to see it was blue and had the words 'Police Call Box' printed above the door, though neither of them needed to know those details to know exactly what was materialising in front of them.

Jack was gawping at the sight. No less than ten feet away was something that he'd never expected to see again, or at least not this soon. Martha squealed next to him as the thin door was pulled inwards, revealing a glimpse of the huge interior. Out of the hole in the wood stumbled a slightly scruffy man in his mid thirties. He looked around him, noticed to two people then grinned. It was a boyish and infectious grin, his hair flopping forward across his forehead and his eyes glittering with energy.

"Hello!" He climbed out of the box, locked it and made his way over to Jack and Martha, hands in pockets. Neither of them could stop staring, mouths slightly open. Shock would have been a very mild description indeed. At the precise moment that the grinding siren had sounded, the bottoms of Jack Harkness' and Martha Jones' worlds had fallen sharply away. The Doctor just looked at them, a slight frown creasing his forehead. He waved his hand in front of their faces.

"These are not the droids you're looking for." Jack snapped out of his trance first and mirrored the man in front of him. He couldn't think of anything else to do but shove his hands in his pockets and look incredulously at him. "You know, those films are quite similar to somewhere I've just been. Of course, they don't use 'The Force' they have these strange things… Grown in the stomach of some animal I think…"

He trailed off and started smiling manically again, rocking on the balls of his feet. Then he looked at Martha and clicked his fingers in front of her. Her head jerked back and she blinked. She looked for a moment at him then flung her arms around him in a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you again, Doctor!" She pulled away and held him at arm's length, a huge grin on her face.

"It's good to see you too, Martha Jones." His eyes softened and his voice lost the humorous quality it had had previously. "You too, Jack. How've you both been?"

Jack and Martha looked at each other, then glanced at the Doctor, then back to each other again. Jack raised his eyebrows, Martha nodded and Jack sighed, draping an arm around the Doctor's shoulders and leading him over to the elevator, Martha following them.

As they sunk through the floor, the Doctor let out a low, impressed whistle as the pterodactyl soared around the water tower and cawed. He nodded a couple of times then looked around him. He took in the high tech computers and the buzzing fibre optic cables that ran from workstation to work station with the look of that on a child's face when seeing the season's latest toy for the first time. He snorted at the board room, the glass walls showing through to the TV panels on the opposite wall.

"Little pretentious isn't it?" He pointed and raised his eyebrows at Jack, who just looked coolly at him in return. The Doctor hastily shoved his hands back into his pockets and jumped from the platform as it ground to a halt at the bottom of the hub. He walked across the small walkway through the basin and headed to the workstations, eager to have a closer look.

As he was walking up to them, he noticed, with interest, the sleeping man on the sofa. Before Jack could catch up with him and pull him back, the Doctor was leaning right in to Ianto's face, stopping only an inch or two away.

"Hmmmmm…" The Doctor let out a low sound of interest and Ianto's eyes snapped open.

"ARGH!" Ianto's head jerked back as he tried to get himself to a suitable distance to focus.

"ARGH!" The Doctor instinctively stood up sharply, a little ruffled at the reaction he'd gotten.

"Jack?!" The two men spoke his name at the exact same time, a pair of blue eyes glaring at him, the pair of brown ones glittering manically again.

Jack just sighed and shook his head, rubbing his eyes again with his hand. Martha came up behind him and smiled.

"Ianto, meet the Doctor." At that, the Doctor swivelled on his heel and smiled at the still confused young man. "Doctor, this is Ianto Jones."

Their eyes lit up at the same time, both realising who the other was at precisely the same moment. Ianto nodded to him, pulled himself to his feet and moved over to the kitchen area, walking past Jack and touching his arm gently for reassurance. Jack closed his eyes briefly then looked up at the Doctor.

"So, how long are you staying around for this time?" His voice was a little sceptical and he gave the Doctor a piercing look, folding his arms across his chest. Not that it had any effect.

"Well, you see, that's the thing… The TARDIS still hasn't recovered completely from the cannibalisation… She's not flying right. At all" The Doctor was rubbing the back of his head and looking carefully at Jack's face to gauge his reaction. "You see… I'm stuck here til I get her fixed."

Martha squealed again, Jack groaned and the Doctor grinned. Ianto had fallen asleep against the counter.


	21. Part 3 :: Chapter 1: Still

Hello again! Wow... this week feels like it's been forever, doesn't it? Well, mine did at least... I think I should explina now that this part of the story has another mini self-challenge to it. I was thinkingup a new theme for chapter titles when I was browsing through my music library, and I stumbled across my **Foo Fighters** albums. At first, I was going to do **In Your Honour: Disc 1**, then I thought, wait, no. This part is more questioning of the relationship that's been built so far, and I decided that **In Your Honour: Disc 2** (the accoustic album) would be more fitting for it. So yes, the titles are going to be the tracks, and they're going to link to the lyrics, especially as the album tells a kind of story about Dave Grohl's past and stuff like that.

I hope this was worth making you guys wait a bit for! I know I enjoyed getting my fingers into the story again after a few days (I almost had a mental breakdown at school through lack of story writing!). Please comment and tell me how much you like it if you do, reviews encourage new chapters!

The next one should be up on either Wednesday or Thursday, as school will be over and coursework will be handed in.

_**EDIT**: When I say the TARDIS travels through dimensions, I mean the straight forward up down and side to side dimensions_.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters found, they belong to Russel T. Davies. I wish I did though. We'd have Jack and Ianto action every single episode if I was a writer (which I would dearly like to be).

* * *

**And So It Begins... Again: Part 3**

_Chapter 1: Still _

**"_Promise I will be forever yours, Promise not to say another word, _**

_**Never mind what's done is done, Always was a lucky one…"**_

-Still, Foo Fighters

* * *

Jack was snapped out of his second Doctor induced trance when he heard Ianto's head hit one of the head height cabinets. He looked around so see Ianto leaning, head first, on the wooden door, eyes closed. He smiled and walked over to the young man, hooking an arm around his waist to support him as he swayed gently on the spot. Blinking a couple of times, he opened his eyes again and looked blearily at Jack.

The older man just smiled affectionately at him and wrapped his arms tightly around the young man's torso. He sympathised with Ianto as he leaned his head on Jack's shoulder and loosely rested his hands on Jack's hips. Ianto hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.

Slowly, he untangled himself from him guided him up to his office. Ianto blinked a couple more times and tried to protest as Jack pulled him down into the sleep space, but yawned instead. A few minutes later, Jack had Ianto settled in between the covers, his suit, shirt and shoes now hanging up on the back of the office door.

Closing it gently behind him, he pulled a hardened look onto his face and walked back down to the sofa where Martha and the Doctor were happily debating the existence of Flux Capacitors, the Doctor's back to him.

"But we've seen ALL sorts of stuff from films that's actually real, why couldn't that be real too?" Martha was getting a little heated, obviously annoyed that the Doctor was denying her the belief that Back to the Future could happen in the same way as the film.

"I've told you before! The reason they don't exist is that Flux isn't the cause of time travel!" The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically. "Flux is just the amount of time in one place! It doesn't flow, so you can't get it stored in a capacitor! Did you flunk A-level physics or something?"

Jack saw a dangerous look in Martha's eyes and stepped in before the situation could sour any more.

"Right, that's enough guys." He stood in front of them, arms crossed, looking at them with a stern expression on his face. "I don't know what you two think, but I seem to recall that whenever the Doctor's around for too long, aliens come calling and a few people end up dead, mutated or on another continent. Personally, I don't want to have to clean that one up."

He had to stop himself smiling at the story he'd read of the Welsh fruit and veg stand from the local market ending up in the middle of the Himalayas a few weeks after the Doctor's last visit. Instead, he concentrated on the fact that the Doctor would only be around to make his life hard. He had to leave.

"You need to fix the TARDIS, I can probably help, and Martha needs to get back to work." He smiled briefly at her. "I don't need inquiries from U.N.I.T. about a missing medical officer."

The Doctor just smiled placidly to him and nodded along to the entire monologue. It unnerved Jack a little. He shuffled his feet and tried to keep the Doctor's gaze. It didn't work. He ended up rubbing the back of his head and casting his eyes around the hub.

"First off, can I bring the TARDIS in here? I don't feel right about leaving her outside. I'm pretty sure I could manoeuvre her over to here. It's just the inter dimensional and time travel that's the problem." The Doctor stood up, hands in pockets and rocked on his heels a little, smiling continually at Jack.

Jack gave him a sidelong look before scouting around for a suitable place for the TARDIS to be parked. He didn't want the Doctor to be on his own down in the archives (God knows what he'd do to the stuff down there) and he wanted someone to be in his company at all time. He decided that the best idea would be to drain the basin and level the floor out. It would give the Doctor enough space for the TARDIS and room to work.

Tapping a few buttons on his wrist strap, it beeped an affirmative and the slow draining noise of the basin emptying drifted up the them. A few seconds later, a metal floor slid over the top of it and crated a space roughly 9 feet square. Jack pointed silently down at it and the Doctor followed his finger.

"Fantastic! Alright, I won't be a minute." He smiled, hopped round to the elevator and jumped, signalling to Jack to raise it. Jack complied and as soon as the Doctor was out of sight, slumped down onto the sofa and groaned. This was going to be a very long and hard few days.

* * *

The next morning, Jack woke to the clatters and bangs of metals parts being dropped and thrown around inside the TARDIS. He'd stayed up late into the night, finally collapsing on the sofa behind Tosh's desk in exhaustion. The Doctor had been like an ADHD riddled child all night, as always, and had chattered away for the majority of the time. It had worn Jack down enough to the point of sleep.

He guiltily pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes. He should've gone to bed with Ianto, spent the night with him, even if it was just lying next to him whilst the young man slept. He quickly decided to push the thought to the back of his mind and get himself moving, going to have a shower and get changed, generally waking himself up for the following day.

He was just creeping out of his office, shoving his shirt untidily into the waistband of his trousers, when the Doctor stuck his head out of the police box's door, grinning up. Jack felt his heart sink.

"Jack! Morning!" Jack waved and snapped his suspenders over his shoulders, rolling his shirt sleeves up and walking round to the basin.

"Managed to make any headway with the-" Jack stopped in his tracks as a second voice floated out from inside the TARDIS.

"Doctor, I think I found something that could be irritating the internals." Jack looked stunned as he peered in to see Martha looking into an open console. She looked up and grinned, waving him a good morning.

"Work?" _Wasn't she here on U.N.I.T. business?_

"What? Oh! Yeah, work… You seriously think I just happened to be in Cardiff this soon after everything, and I coincidentally called Torchwood and spoke to Ianto?" She looked sceptically at him and rolled her eyes. It slowly dawned on Jack that Ianto had arranged the whole thing deliberately. He must've known that Jack needed to talk to someone who could completely relate to his experiences the previous year. The only two people who could were standing in front of him. The only one of those who would actually be useful in a semi emotional counselling session, was Martha.

Jack looked away, a little sheepish. "I knew that." He turned and stalked away to his office, silently reminding himself to think before he spoke next time. Especially when the explanation was so evident.

He dropped into his chair and sighed heavily. He was tired and he felt jumpy in his skin. He decided that what he really needed was Ianto, so he kicked his boots off and climbed down into the sleep space, sitting below the opening and watching the young man sleep.

He was quiet and peaceful, breathing deeply as he slept on his front. He looked more composed than he had the previous day, his arms tucked neatly into his body, hands on the pillow on either side of his head, face turned towards Jack again. The American leaned forwards and gently stroked Ianto's hair, feeling the calm of the young man's sleep radiating up his arm and soothing the disquiet he felt deep inside him.

After a few minutes of silently watching Ianto sleep, he felt better and decided to make an attempt to get some work out of the way before the others came in.

He successfully managed to hide in his office for an hour and finish filling in several accounts of the weevil attack from a couple of days previously. He altered the CCTV footage of the area of the attack, filed fake police reports of the disturbances being teenagers messing around with fireworks and filled in his own, Torchwood, documentation on the event.

He'd just closed the file up when he heard a series of angry yells from the direction of the hub. He hurried out of the door and looked over the railing.

"FREEZE!" Gwen was standing at the front of the trio, her gun raised and pointing straight at the Doctor. She had a cold, steely face on and was glaring at the seemingly insane man in front of her. The Doctor was grinning at her, hands in pockets and rocking on the balls of his feet again.

"So you're the team then, are you?" The Doctor was quite happy, not perturbed at all by the three handguns which were trained on his chest.

"I don't know who you are, or how you got in here, but you are trespassing on private property." Owen was the next to confront to Doctor, a little less commanding and a little more annoyed than Gwen had been. He looked tired and a little hung over. He hadn't thought he'd have to fire a gun before he had his first cup of Ianto's coffee.

"Hands out of your pockets, where we can see them." Gwen's voice was as steely as her expression, and she gestured to his pockets with her gun, waiting for him to raise his hands. "I said, hands where we can see them."

The Doctor's smile was fading a little and he raised an eyebrow quizzically at the woman ordering him around. Had Jack not told them about him yet? Surely they'd seen the TARDIS behind him… But clearly Jack hadn't explained everything to them, as was his usual habit.

"Look! You have three guns pointing at your chest, all of which can fire a bullet through your heart in a nanosecond." Gwen was getting a little bit jumpy, unsure why this stranger was so comfortable with the situation. "Hands where we can see them, or we all shoot!"

The Doctor sighed and rolled his eyes, turning his attention to Jack. Gwen whipped around and looked up to see the Captain leaning on the railing with an extremely amused expression on his face.

"You could fire, but it won't exactly do much good." He smiled knowingly at the confused team before explaining. "He has two hearts, you'd only get one with where you're aiming. He'd still be rocketing around again in a matter of minutes."

Owen looked at the Doctor curiously. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jack cut in. "No, you can't experiment on him, Owen. He's not around for that long either." Jack suddenly realised that he hadn't even introduced his guest.

"Everyone, that guy-" He pointed a finger at the Doctor, who was once again grinning as he raised a hand and waggled his fingers. "- is the right kind of Doctor."

Gwen looked at Jack searchingly once more before looking back at the Doctor, about to apologise. She was cut short by him smiling and waving his hand to stop her.

"Don't worry, you were just doing your job. I'm glad to know you don't shoot on sight all the time." He cast a sharp, accusing look at Jack who quickly looked away, before smiling and heading back into the TARDIS.

Jack quickly ducked into his office and closed the door, leaning on the back of it and letting out an unconsciously held breath. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ianto's head and shoulders had emerged from the sleep space, his arms folded on the floor and his chin resting gently on them.

"The others found out about him now then?" Jack nodded and put his hands in his pockets. Was that a habit he'd picked up from the Doctor? Possibly. He doubted he'd ever really know, but it was a habit he was getting quite attached to, so he didn't feel like forcing himself out of it. He watched Ianto climb out of the sleep space and look around for some clothes. He found a suit and shirt hanging up with clean undershirt and boxers folded on a chair. He picked up the clothes and headed to the door, kissing Jack gently on the cheek before easing the door open and heading round to the shower room.

Gwen and Owen ignored him as they saw the young man shuffle out of Jack's office, clean clothes slung over his shoulder and under his arm, dressed only in a t-shirt and boxers. Tosh smiled at him, and Ianto smiled back. They'd become quite good friends recently, as Ianto had found Tosh was the only one of the three who didn't question him about Jack every few sentences.

He made his way past the workstations and into the shower room, feeling surprisingly awake. He must have slept for a long time. Smiling to himself, he stepped under the hot jets of water and enjoyed his shower, thinking about nothing in particular.

About half an hour later, he emerged from the room, cleanly shaven and dressed, a small smile on his face. Ianto was beginning to remember the events of the night before and when he walked into the main section of the hub and looked to the basin, the remaining memories flooded back. The Doctor, Martha and the broken TARDIS.

He sighed then and felt a stab of something akin to jealousy. He suspected, deep down, that given the chance, Jack would disappear off on another adventure, leaving them behind. He didn't doubt that Jack loved him, he knew too well when his lover was being sincere, but he also knew that Jack wasn't the type to settle. He was immortal, and a lifetime in one place would be nothing more than tedious for him. Cardiff wasn't exactly the most enthralling place in the universe.

He moved to the kitchen area and flicked the coffee machine on, preparing everyone's usual orders before realising he should go ask the Doctor. He got up his courage and made his way cautiously over to the blue box. The door was open, and he took it as an invite to step inside.

He inwardly marvelled at the way the inside was so much larger than the outside, but kept his expression neutral. He smiled when he saw Martha though and made his way over. She looked up and smiled back at him.

"Good morning, Ianto!" She had a strangeness around her which made Ianto feel instantly at ease with talking to her. He suspected that Jack and the Doctor felt it as well. It wasn't alien, it wasn't artificial or forced, it was the aura of a genuine happiness. It was becoming a rarity in Ianto's day to day life to find something like that with human roots.

"Morning. I'm making coffee, would you and the Doctor like some?" There was a loud noise from the balcony above the door and the scruffy man from the night before appeared, leaning over and smiling.

"Ianto!" The young man felt a little intimidated, scared even. His expression must've showed it as the Doctor's changed, became calmer and less manic. "I have heard stories about you Ianto Jones. Apparently there's no finer place to get coffee from in the whole of Cardiff!"

Ianto smiled and blushed a little, wondering just what else Jack might've said. "Well, would you like to try some?" The Doctor grinned again and nodded. "Any preferences? Milk, sugar?"

"Not really, I like it any old way… I tell you what, I'll have whatever Jack's having." The statement was innocent enough, and Martha spluttered from behind the huge cylinder running vertically through the middle of the TARDIS. Ianto looked away and hurried out of the small door, back to the safety of the coffee machine.

"What? What did I say?!" The Doctor looked bewildered, truly confused as to what had just happened. Only after Martha explained the deeper meaning of his request did the Doctor's face light up with understanding. He even had the good grace to feel embarrassed, he hadn't noticed Jack putting the young man to bed the night before, he'd been too busy talking to Martha.

* * *

Jack had emerged from his office to find out what was taking his coffee so long. He hadn't had his first proper caffeine hit of the day and his senses were starting to lag a little. He wandered down to find Ianto gazing emptily at the floor, leaning on the work surface. Jack frowned as he noted that the coffee machine had finished boiling.

"Ianto… Ianto, are you okay?" Jack made his way over and put a hand gently on his arm. The young man looked up, a strange look on his face.

"Apparently, the Doctor's having whatever you're having…" Ianto looked into Jack's eyes, a little desperately. Jack struggled not to laugh, but Ianto saw the corners of his mouth twitch and the glint in his eyes. "If you're even considering it, I swear-"

"Ianto! Seriously, calm down." Ianto stopped and narrowed his eyes at Jack, who leaned forwards and kissed him gently on the lips. "He had no idea about what he was implying, trust me. That man wouldn't know how to flirt if he was taught by Casanova himself."

"How do you know?" Ianto's voice was a little uncertain, as if he didn't really know what he was trying to gain from the conversation.

"Lets just say, in my past, I had a _thing_ for him." He caught the warning look in Ianto's eyes and hastily remedied it. "A long, LONG time ago. He wasn't interested and disappeared, I didn't see him again for a long time. When I did, everything had gone, I'd loved and lost several times and then fallen in love again…" He let the end of the sentence hang between them and smiled to himself, feeling truly lucky that he'd let himself get over his feelings for the Doctor. If he hadn't, he could well have never met Ianto, let alone fallen for the Welshman. "Ianto, you do know I wouldn't leave you again, right?"

The young man looked up sharply, not realising that Jack had understood why he'd asked his question, as he'd only just realised himself. "I wouldn't blame you if you did."

"That may be, but I wouldn't go, I wouldn't leave you." Jack smiled. "The only reason he's here is to get him back on the road as soon as possible. He needs help that he can only find in Torchwood, so I can't deny him that… but don't worry, he'll be back on his travels in no time."

Ianto nodded in resignation and turned round to make the coffee. Jack hung around and offered to take his, Martha's and the Doctor's coffees. Placing another kiss on Ianto's lips, he took his tray and headed into the TARDIS, looking around for a surface to put the drinks down on.


	22. Chapter 2: What If I Do?

Hello again! Haven't the last few days been productive?! I've done 2 chapters of Cat and Mouse (thanks for reviewing guys!) and now a new one for here, and I've plotted out the rest of this Part (it's a stonker) and I've started it off on it's road!

I CANNOT WAIT FOR ADRIFT LATER ON! I've deliberately waited until today to watch it, much to some people's distress. But yes, can't wait, please no spoilers for me? I'm watching the Big Fat Quiz of the Year and loving it, and I think John barrowman should be on it, t'would be fun!

I've used a couple of lines from the TV series in this one, jsut cos they fitted. Please don't kill me? Just share the love for Jack and Ianto and review!

**Disclaimer**: I sadly do not own anything below apart from the story line, all characters belong to Russel T. Davies. 

* * *

_Chapter 2: What If I Do? _

**"_Back and forth that voice of yours keeps me up at night_**

_**Help me search to find the words that eat you up inside"**_

-What If I Do?, Foo Fighters

* * *

Ianto had watched Jack go into the TARDIS and heard the low mumble of male voices conversing before he decided to return to his office. He didn't particularly want to listen in to a conversation between the two men. He had a feeling that the Doctor was yet to convince Jack to go away with him again. He felt horrible for even thinking it, but he couldn't help it. The thought sat in the back of his skull, deep in the recesses that he wished weren't there. It made him feel like the lowest being on the earth, but he'd just have to live with it until the Doctor left, with or without Jack.

He sighed and dropped into his seat at the Tourist Office desk, flicking through some brochures and deciding which to put up in the new display. He managed to put off all thoughts of Jack and the Doctor for the rest of the morning, and when he decided to go down to the hub at around 1 in the afternoon, he had managed to get himself in quite a good mood.

"Okay guys, what am ordering for lunch today?" Gwen swivelled in her seat at the first sound of Ianto's voice and grinned at him. Ianto simply put his hands in his pockets and smiled. "I'll take that as 'pizza' from Gwen."

She grinned at him once more then jumped up to go find Owen, obviously trying to get another vote for pizzas. Ianto shook his head and walked over to Tosh, sitting down on the desk next to her and wiggling his fingers in front of her face. She jumped slightly and looked up at him.

"Oh, Ianto, sorry! I was just getting into my new program, its more effective than that original rift predictor!" Ianto quickly covered her mouth over with a hand as he sensed a long and complex explanation that would postpone their food and looked at her pointedly before removing it. "Sorry, I'll go for pizza as well, thanks, Ianto."

"Tell me about that program when the food gets here, it sounds really interesting." Tosh's face lit up and she gave him an appreciative smile which Ianto returned before he went off to find Jack, the Doctor and Martha. 

As he walked past the autopsy room, he heard a few scuffles, a sharp "OW!" and a muttered voice and then: "Ianto! Pizza!" which Ianto silently filed away and then carried on with his quest to find Jack.

He made his way slowly down to the TARDIS sitting in the basin of the hub and forced himself to step into the box and look around. He smiled at Martha as she waved and beckoned him over. Looking around carefully, he made his way through the tangles of wires and open consoles to where Martha stood in the centre of the room. When he got over there, he saw Jack bent down into a gap in the floor, waist high. He could hear mumbled wonderings drifting up through the gap in the floor. Ianto smiled to himself and poked the proffered backside with his toe. There was a jerk, a shuffle and Jack pulled himself free of the hole in the floor, looking up at Ianto with a dazzling smile on his face. The young man couldn't help but melt just a little inside. 

"So what do you lot want for lunch?" He turned around and looked at Martha. "So far, there's 3 votes for pizza from the others."

Jack stood up and wrapped his arms around Ianto from behind and rested his chin on the young man's shoulder. "What do _you_ want, Yan?"

Ianto looked to the floor and smiled. "I think pizza sounds like the best option today." He felt Jack nod his approval on his shoulder and looked up.

"Okay then, pizza it is!" Jack grinned and kissed Ianto in the crook of his neck and nuzzled his nose in, causing Ianto to squirm and force his way out of Jack's arms to the sound of Martha's laughter. 

"What toppings will you all want then?" Ianto stood back, a little nearer to Martha and looked at Jack, who was grinning at him again. 

"I'll have the usual please, Yan." Jack winked before diving back into the hole in the floor to finish whatever it was he'd been repairing before. He looked away and turned towards Martha who was smiling at him as well.

"I'll have a pepperoni please, Ianto." She smiled at him then sat down on the stool behind her, looking around. "Doctor? What pizza do you want?" Ianto was surprised at how loud Martha was capable of being, and he rocked on his heels slightly as she bellowed at the Doctor. Within seconds, he was hanging over the banister on the balcony and grinning boyishly down at the trio.

"Did someone say pizza?" Martha rolled her eyes and nodded. "I'll have a cheese and tomato one please, no messing."

Ianto nodded and mentally noted down the orders before going back into the hub and collecting the rest of them. Within 10 minutes, he was on the phone and ordering the food. The others started to mill around the sofa and coffee table behind Tosh's desk around a half hour later. 

Ianto came down from the Tourist Office, where he'd been collecting the delivery, to find Jack and the Doctor sitting on the sofa, with Martha on the Doctor's lap, and the Doctor sitting back with his arms lying on the back of the sofa.

Ianto felt a small stab in his stomach, related to the niggling feeling in the back of his skull. _They look so comfortable together… Maybe that's where Jack belongs. _Ianto didn't even falter in his polite smile as he set the boxes down on the table and handed them out, but he felt a warm feeling inside himself when Jack pulled him down onto the sofa next to him, an arm around his waist. 

The team sat amiably and ate and talked about things; what was going on with the TARDIS, how the Doctor had found himself in Cardiff, how the three of them had met and so on. Ianto was quite comfortable sitting and listening to the other three questioning the time travellers, especially as he had Jack's arm wrapped around his waist the whole time.

* * *

That evening, Owen, Gwen and Tosh left at the normal time, and Ianto was doing his final rounds at about 10 pm. He found Jack sitting in his office, shuffling through some files and drinking the end of a cold cup of coffee.

"Do you want a fresh one?" Ianto pointed to the mug in his hand when Jack looked up in bewilderment. Seeing the young man in his doorway, he smiled and walked over, placing a hand on his face and kissing him affectionately on the lips. 

"No thanks. I've got to go back down and help the Doctor out. We've almost finished sorting it out. He should be able to take it for a test drive tomorrow." He kissed Ianto again before pulling him into a hug, one of his warm and comforting hugs that made Ianto feel like there was nothing but the two of them left in the world. They were both reluctant to pull away, but eventually, Ianto managed to force himself out of the embrace. 

"I think I'm going to go home and sort the flat out. We've left it in a bit of a mess and I need to stock up on food." Jack's face fell a little. "Don't worry, I know you have to stay, I'm not exactly holding it against you."

He gave Jack a smile before turning around and leaving the hub. Jack watched the young man leave and desperately wished he could be going with him. He sighed heavily and made his way down to the TARDIS. He stepped in and stood near the door, watching as Martha and the Doctor pieced the floor back together, slotting the wires and pipes back in their rightful places and covering them up again. The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and fixed them down one by one. Standing up, he walked over to Jack and sighed.

"I think that's everything… I'm still getting some readings that I'm not expecting, but maybe I need to get over that." He looked at the pillar running down the middle of the room and rubbed his chin. "I'll give her a whirl now, if that's okay?"

Jack nodded and stepped back out of the TARDIS and moved up to the workstations. He stood and watched as the box dematerialised with the grating siren and the flashing light. For a few, breath taking moments, he thought that the Doctor was gone, that he'd finally fixed his ship. A minute later, that noise and that light were back, closely followed by the bulky blue police box. The Doctor stepped out of the box and growled. 

"What happened?" Jack called down to the Doctor, wanting to know the extent of the miscalculation in the trip. 

"Well, I attempted to go to the coronation of Julius Caesar and we ended up at the entombment of Tuttankamun." He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. "Its going to be another long night… Shall we get started?"

Jack nodded sullenly and made his way back down to the basin, wishing more than ever that he was curled up in bed with Ianto. The young man had seemed quieter than usual, and Jack suspected it was something to do with the Doctor's presence… He just wish he knew what.

* * *

On his way home, Ianto had stopped off at the shop and stocked up on the essentials; vegetables, eggs, milk, bread, noodles and ice cream. When he got home, he put the food away and flicked the kettle on, glancing at the clock on the microwave. It was flashing 23:30 at him in bright green digits. Looking around the messy living area, he sighed and felt a stab of longing. Sleep wasn't going to come easy tonight for him.

Moving around to the sofa area, he gathered together the blankets and folded them over the back of the sofa, straightening out the cushions and collecting together the empty coffee mugs and beer bottles. He put the mugs in the sink and opened the cupboard underneath to throw the bottles into the glass recycling. Three of them landed in the box, but one of them hit the back edge and flipped off into the back of the cupboard. Letting out an exasperated growl, he dropped to his knees and wrenched the box from it's place and reached back for the bottle. 

His hand groped about in the semi darkness, trying to feel the cool glass, but instead he felt something made from paper. Frowning, he pulled the item from the cupboard and looked at it in confusion. What the hell was it?

Sitting back against another cupboard, he opened the envelope in his hands and looked cautiously inside, but a moment later, a wave of realisation took him over and he recognised the contents. He tipped it out into his lap and looked thoughtfully down at the four items. The first thing he noticed was a small mirror, slightly dusty, but well cared for. The next was a crisp £20 note, slightly curled, as if it had been rolled many times. The third item was an old razor blade from a dismantled shaving razor. He tested it on the tip of his finger and winced as a dark red bead of his of his blood formed and he stuck it in his mouth to suck the blood away. The blade was still as sharp as always, despite it's appearance. 

The final item was a small, re-sealable plastic bag, the kind that's made of two sheets melted together at the edges with a straight, press seal across the top. Inside was a reasonable amount of white powder. Ianto looked at it for a long, thoughtful moment. 

He was remembering the time when he'd gathered the items together. It was just after he'd managed to get himself released from hospital after his attempted suicide attempt, and he'd soon come to his wit's end. Every time he'd tried to pick up something heavier than a bag of popcorn, he'd had to drop it, unable to support too much weight with his damaged wrists. It had lead to a couple more nights of no sleep and the conscious decision to go to a bar and get himself a drink.

He'd gone to a place that one of his old college friends owned and they'd caught up on old times, had a laugh and exchanged life stories. They'd sat in the VIP bar with other regulars and the alcohol soon turned to drugs of all varieties. Smoking weed was nothing, so Ianto hadn't hesitated when a joint was passed to him. It had been a long time since he'd been this relaxed, so he didn't see a problem with it. 

Next were the harder drugs. He'd turned down the E passed to him, as he'd never liked it on the occasions he'd tried it in university. Then there was the acid. Again, he didn't like the hallucinations particularly, so he passed over on that. When the cocaine was pulled out, he'd accepted a line happily. 

By the end of the night, he'd purchased over £500 worth of the drug. He later discovered that the drug was good quality and was well worth the excessive amount. For a normal user, it wouldn't have lasted longer than a couple of weeks, but Ianto wasn't a normal user. He wasn't a user full stop.

Over the following weeks before he was allowed back to the hub, he'd only done three or four lines, which left him with about half of the substance. He realised that if he was to go back to work and be accepted and trusted again, he'd have to stop, so he slotted it all into an envelope and thrown it into the back of a cupboard he never went in. It had been easy to immerse himself in work once more and forget about the package dwelling under his sink.

Sighing, he put the items back into the envelope, closed it and took it into his bedroom. He suddenly didn't feel like cleaning up any more of the flat. He sat down on his bed and looked at the envelope in his hand again. It was so tempting to just open it up and make the now overwhelming guilt go away. On his way home, he'd realised how stupid and horrible he'd been to think Jack would leave him, and it had started to eat away at him inside. He didn't want to feel guilty, but he didn't want to tell Jack that he'd doubted him. He couldn't.

Ianto felt desperation rising up in him again, but instead of shaking the envelope open, he wrenched the top drawer of his bedside table open and shoved the package right to the back. He slammed it closed and buried his face in his hands, unable to stop himself thinking of Jack, his words echoing through his head, only emphasising Ianto's feelings of guilt.

'_What did you come back for?'_

"_I came back for you…"_

He felt himself start to cry and gritted his teeth in an attempt to stop the tears from falling. He lay down on his side and curled up, tucking his knees up to his chest and hugging them. He was still fully dressed, but he couldn't get up the willpower to change and shower. He'd do that tomorrow.

He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, but all he could think of was Jack, his words running through his head like a broken record.

"…_Loved people I never would've known if I'd just stayed where I was… And I wouldn't change that for the world…"_

The tears started to fall properly then, and he made no attempt to stop them or brush them away.


	23. Chapter 3: Miracle

Well, I had a great time today, watching and writing Torchwood? Next thing:

EPSISODE 11?! **HUBBA HUBBA** OR WHAT!?

I'm in complete love... And John Barrowman said he wasn't in good enough shape to take his top off -pffft- I'd hit that if he wasn't gay... And how dare Gwen laugh at them?!

But yes, please enjoy! Don't worry, it is going somewhere, not just a whole load of crappy angst and stuff (cute angst, but still a little crap)

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters (And after tonight's display, who cares?!) Rusself T. Davies does, and he's finally using them properly!

* * *

_Chapter 3: Miracle_

_**"Crazy but I believe this time, Begging for sweet relief, A blessing in disguise. **_

_**Dying behind these tired eyes, I've been losing sleep, Please come to me tonight"**_

- Miracle, Foo Fighters

* * *

Ianto spent the following three hours drifting in and out of an extremely troubled sleep. He eventually gave up the ghost and got up from his bed to take a shower and get dressed for the next day. He had to be back at work in roughly four hours anyway, so there wasn't much point going back to bed after the shower anyway.

He managed to take up forty five minutes of his time in the bathroom; showering, shaving and getting dressed in clean clothes taking longer than he'd expected. When he walked out into the living area, he found that his mobile had several missed calls on it. 

He flipped open the top of the phone and checked down the list. They were al from Jack. He felt a pang of guilt again. Did Jack think something had happened to him? Sighing, he shook his head, pocketed the phone and went to flick the kettle on. He opened the fridge and cupboards and tried to find himself something to eat. Despite all the new food, he wasn't hungry. Rubbing his eyes on the heel of his hand, he shut the doors and made himself a cup of coffee. 

He took the mug and dropped into the sofa, grabbing the remote control and flicking on the TV. The pictures whispered and flickered in front of him, begged him for attention, but he couldn't even register what he was watching. He had a vague feeling that it was re-runs of Cheers. 

He watched the characters arguing about some petty new problem, but the only thing running through his mind was Jack. Nothing specific, not words or images of him, just the idea of him, the emotions that came when he was around. It made Ianto miss him more than he would've been able to explain. He guessed that feeling like this was part of the package, and only serve to reinforce that he truly loved Jack.

He only hoped the older man felt the same way.

Sighing, he walked into his bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, searching through the gels and pills to find any remnants of his last bout of sleeplessness. He couldn't find the packet of sleeping pills he'd abandoned after a few nights of them not working.

Sighing heavily with exasperation, he went back into the living area and grabbed his car keys and coat. He'd managed to kill two hours since getting out of the shower, and decided that he could go back to the hub without causing too much suspicion. 

He took his time whilst driving there, turning the Tool CD up loud to drown out the rain pelting the aluminium roof. He managed to drown out his turbulent thoughts as well for the twenty minutes he was sitting behind the wheel, but as soon as he pulled up in a side street and got out of the car, the rain started to fall on him and the niggling worries and guilt started to creep back into his head. 

Sighing, he pulled up the collar of his coat and ran for the cover of the Tourist Office, fumbling a little in his hurry to get the keys in the lock and open the door. He stumbled in and shut the door behind him, pulling his sodden coat off him and hanging it up behind the bead curtain on the coat stand. Rubbing his dripping hair with his hands, he made his way through the hidden door and down into the hub. He headed straight for the coffee machine and filled it up, ready for the orders that would be coming soon. 

He wasn't surprised when he felt strong arms wrap themselves around his waist and hold him close. He unconsciously relaxed, letting out a soft sigh. Jack smiled and kissed his neck, sending a shiver of pleasure down his spine. Ianto couldn't help himself and twisted in Jack's arms to capture his lips and kiss him passionately, taking Jack a little by surprise. After a moment or two, he embraced it and ran his hands up Ianto's back, keeping him close. 

When the kiss eventually came to an end, the two didn't part. They stood holding each other for a long time afterwards. Jack was smiling as he felt Ianto's hand absently stroking the back of his neck and held the young man closer. 

"Yan, is everything okay?" Ianto nodded slightly in reply to Jack, but Jack wasn't convinced. "I called you a few times last night… why didn't you pick up?" Again, no satisfactory reply, just a half hearted shrug and a sigh. Jack just held him tightly for a while longer before pulling away gently. 

"Do you want a coffee?" Ianto had turned away, back to the coffee machine, but Jack caught a glance at the slight bags under the young man's eyes. 

"Yes please…" He was about to say something further, but decided against it. He'd pursue it at a different point in time, when they'd spent some time together, perhaps on their next day off. He sighed and looked back towards the TARDIS. All their work over the last few hours had proved pointless and they'd spent the last 30 minutes of it sitting on the floor in complete bewilderment, none of the three companions had any idea of how to proceed. 

The Doctor and Martha had gotten up from the basin floor to go back inside and look over the gauges again and Jack had stayed outside, chancing another wish that Ianto would come to his rescue, turn up in his arms the next time he closed his eyes. 

It was then that the young man had walked in and his wish had been granted… of sorts. He'd attempted to call Ianto a few times during the night, needing to just hear the welsh accent drift through the headset. He hadn't been surprised when the phone hadn't been picked up on each occasion, but disappointment had still settled in nevertheless.

On seeing his gorgeous Welshman walk through the door, he'd known there was something inherently wrong with him. The set of his shoulders, the way his feet dragged just a little, and of course, the slightly pained and vacant expression on his face. 

The Doctor came up behind Jack and tapped him on the shoulder, snapping out of his trance. 

"I know what's wrong with her." He smiled manically at him, hands in pockets and rocking on his heels again. "The coral at the heart of her is sick!" 

Jack looked nonplussed. What the hell was that supposed to mean? He didn't even know that TARDIS coral could get sick. Maybe he should pay attention to this one. 

"Okay, then." Jack folded his arms and looked carefully at the Doctor. "How do you propose to fix that?" 

"Well, what I need to do is find some fresh, healthy stuff and give the old girl an injection." He smiled placidly. Did he know Jack was growing a specimen of TARDIS coral in his study? Or was he just being the usual, manic Doctor? Jack shook his head slightly in thought. "You don't happen to have any that's fallen through the Rift do you? You know, tucked away in your vaults or something?" 

Jack thought about what the Doctor would say if he found out about the coral currently residing in his study. Would he take it away with him? Even if he did, why should I care? _I got it so I could follow him, but now I don't need to._ He rubbed the back of his head and decided to confess.

"I have a piece growing on my desk." Jack watched as the Doctor's jaw dropped open and he leapt into action, taking the steps three at a time as he hurried to the office above them. A bewildered Ianto jumped out of the way and gave Jack a questioning look. He replied with a glance that said: 'Don't ask.' Ianto nodded went back to cleaning the coffee machine and tidying the hub for the day's work.

The Doctor re-emerged from the office, cradling the coral in his arms and walking slowly down to the basin, past Jack and into the blue box. Jack followed him in and they walked to the centre console, where a tile on the desk stood open, showing a pale light pulsating out of the square on, for want of a better term, dashboard. Jack looked at it, a little hypnotised until the Doctor clicked his fingers right in front of his eyes.

"Jack! Don't look at it." The Doctor snapped at him, a little annoyed, but also a little worried. He didn't know what would happen to Jack's already distorted being if he got too close to the TARDIS again. 

He sent Jack back to the door of the room and made him wait there as he very gently broke off a small section and placed it inside the hatch. Had Jack been closer, he would've seen the coral seemingly melt into the majority. He did, however, see the light glowing sharply up out of the hatch after a couple of seconds and had to shield his eyes. He heard the Doctor snap the lid closed and the whirring noise of the sonic screwdriver before a contented sigh.

"She's all better now!" The Doctor was practically laughing with happiness, he threw the remaining coral to Jack, who caught it deftly with one hand. "You know, Jack, you could come with me, one more adventure for old time's sake!"

Jack stood and looked at him a little dubiously. "Doc, I don't think that's the best idea… I can't leave my team again." The Doctor bounded forwards and stood in front of him, smiling.

"I can drop you right back the second after we've left, like you won't even have gone!" He was acting like a little boy on Christmas, and Jack felt surprisingly torn between his options.

"I couldn't do it to Ianto, I couldn't leave him behind and go off on an adventure, even if it was only for a second." Jack looked away. The Doctor grabbed Jack's arms and shook him slightly. 

"Come on, Jack, we could go travelling! Anywhere in the whole of time and space… We could go back to the Ancient Egyptians or to see the year 3478 when they decipher the code from the Declaration of Independence!" The Doctor looked hard into Jack's eyes, but the American just frowned at him and shook his head. "Jack, me and you, travelling the universe together!" 

Neither of them heard Ianto come up to the door, so neither of them knew that Ianto had just felt his stomach drop a foot into his small intestines.

* * *

"_Jack, me and you, travelling the universe together!"_

Ianto felt sick. It was precisely what he'd thought would happen. Jack going off travelling with the Doctor again. The worst part was that he didn't even blame him. The Doctor was infinitely more exciting than anything Ianto and Cardiff had to offer. Even if he did come back the second after he'd left, he'd still have gone, he'd still have travelled for days, weeks, even months with the Doctor. They'd share experiences that Ianto could never begin to imagine having. 

He sighed and headed back to the coffee machine. He'd been intending to ask what the two men wanted, though he could easily guess the right answer. He made two of Jack's usual morning coffees and took them into the TARDIS, knocking before he stepped through. He found Jack leaning on the wall and the Doctor a few steps back from him, looking intently at the pulsating column running through the middle of the room.

"Here's the coffee, guys." He handed one mug to the Doctor and the other to Jack, who leaned forwards and kissed him gently on the lips. That simple movement caused so much pain inside Ianto's chest that he almost screamed at Jack to stay with him, but managed to resist. 

"Right then, I think I'm ready to leave now! I'll go wake Martha and give her a warning." The Doctor drained the coffee mug, which Ianto promptly relieved him of, and hopped off to the upper level of the TARDIS. 

Ianto felt Jack's fingers brush the back of his hand gently and he turned around to see Jack smiling at him, a secret little smile that expressed something better than words could. Ianto managed to smile back and was relieved when Jack's fingers linked through his own and pulled him gently from the room, heading back into the hub, coffee cup in one hand and the coral resting in the crook of his arm. He led the way up to the workstations and stood leaning on the banister and watching the TARDIS thoughtfully. 

Ianto stood next to him and watched the blue box as well. They saw Martha leap out of the door and charge up to them, pulling them both into a huge bear hug.

"Thank you for letting me come to visit! I'm so sorry about him down there, you know how he is, Jack." She smiled sympathetically before giving him another hug. "It was so good to see you again."

She turned to Ianto and gave him a second hug as well, whispering her parting words. "Don't worry, Jack only has eyes for you. I've seen the way he looks at you and you're the only one he sees."

She drew back and smiled at them both before giving a girlish squeal and running back to the TARDIS. The Doctor leaned out and waved up at them. Ianto watched as Jack saluted him and the Doctor closed the door. After a couple of minutes, the light started to flash, there was a grating siren sound and the box before them started to waver in and out of time before vanishing completely. 

Jack smiled wistfully and turned to find Ianto heading towards the huge cog door behind them. 

"Ianto? Where're you going? We don't open up for another hour." He walked over and placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. He turned around and looked at Jack.

"I thought I should go get things started up, you know, to save some time." His voice was slightly hollow, a little forced. Jack found it disturbing. 

"Or you could stay down here with me." Jack pulled him closer and snaked and arm around his waist, stroking his cheek gently with his free hand. "I've really missed you, Ianto."

Ianto replied by leaning his head on Jack's shoulder and looping his own arms around Jack. Jack couldn't tell that he was struggling to stop tears from falling. He felt incredibly bad again, like he's swallowed acid in his morning coffee. Just thinking, from that snatch of misunderstood conversation, that Jack was going to leave him started to eat away at him again. He felt like throwing up and crying and screaming all at once. He wanted to sleep and he wanted to forget. He wanted to confess to Jack what he'd thought and he wanted Jack to understand and just hold like he was doing now. 

He was vaguely aware of Jack stroking his hair gently, but didn't pay much attention.

* * *

The day had been hard for Ianto. He'd spent a lot of it hiding from Jack and the others, keeping himself to himself. It was reasonably easy as there were no call outs, but they did keep calling him down for coffee. He did his best not to get dragged into an intimate situation with Jack and was fairly successful. 

Eventually, the others left and Ianto packed up. He left a message on a post-it for Jack and stuck it to his computer monitor before grabbing his coat and leaving the office, locking up behind him as he made his way round to where he'd parked his car. 

The drive home was uneventful and he was walking up the stairs to his office when his phone rang in his pocket. He scrabbled to get to it and flipped it open, holding it to his ear.

"Ianto?" Jack's voice drifted through the headset and Ianto's breath caught in his throat.

"Hi, Jack."

"Where are you?" He sounded confused… and Ianto was feeling the gnawing sensation again.

"I'm just getting in my flat…" He heard sounds of mumbled affirmation and hastily went on. "It's not that I didn't want you to come, I just knew you were in the middle of a case, and I thought I'd leave you to it, you know, not to disturb you?"

"… Ianto, if you want some room, all you have to do is say-"

"No! No, Jack, not at all.. I didn't mean it like that!" He struggled into his flat and closed the door. He didn't want the neighbours to hear him in hysterics and come snooping around. Jack must've caught the tears that were starting to well in his eyes. He leaned back against the wall next to the door and closed his eyes.

"Ianto?" His voice was a little softer.

"Please come over, Jack…" Even to him, his voice sounded pathetic and helpless, God knows what Jack must've thought. 

"Okay, I'll be over in a bit, don't worry." His voice was gentle and understanding and Ianto had to struggle not to break down then and there. "Yan?"

"Yes?" He managed to choke out.

"I love you, Ianto." And with that, Jack cut the connection and Ianto slid down the wall, falling into a huddle on the floor, tears running freely from his eyes again as he lost control of the emotions that had been battling inside him all day.

* * *

(And just to end it off:

**_"Hands on a miracle, I got my hands on a miracle,_**

**_And there ain't no way, That you'll take it from me..."_**

Just because I couldn't use it earlier but I thought it was perfect for the two of them, from both of their POVs, in my opinion!)


	24. Chapter 4: Another Round

Right then guys! Aren't you lucky, another installment! Think of it as an early easter present thing.. I dunno, enjoy it whatever you see it as! I found this pretty hard to write, cos I'm trying not to make it too static, but to keep the current storyline in place, and ready for the rest of the part. Also, I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE FINALE!! I watched epsidoe 12, and buy is it a stonker! but I won't give anything away for you, never fear =

**WARNING**: **Possible M Rating in this chapter**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Torchwood, it belongs to Russel. T. Davies and he's finally using them right! Jack and Ianto hubba hubba time every episode please!

* * *

_Chapter 4: Another Round_

_**"We could just lay around, Stare at the ceiling **_

_**Want to forget about, One for the feeling"**_

- Another Round, Foo Fighters

* * *

Jack flicked the phone in his hand shut and jumped up, grabbing his coat. He swung it on in one fluid movement and dipped his hand into one of the pockets, finding the small key Ianto had slipped in a few days ago on their way over.

He smiled wistfully, but it started to hurt when he remembered the sound of Ianto's voice over the phone. He'd sounded to small, so lost. Nothing like the young man he'd come to be so comfortable and happy with. It worried him.

As he ascended through the pavement, he pulled his phone back out of his pocket and dialled the number of their local Chinese takeaway and put in his and Ianto's usual order. He swung round and picked it up before heading back to Ianto's flat. He reached the building about forty five minutes after the phone call had ended and took the stairs two at a time until he reached the third floor apartment. He quickly unlocked it and made his way in, closing the door quietly behind him.

He briefly scanned the living area before putting the Chinese down on the table, shrugging his coat off and draping over the back of a chair. He kicked his boots off and placed them under the same chair before moving off to search the bedroom. As he walked through the flat, he realised that it was in a pretty bad state. It wasn't that the place was strewn with rubbish and old clothes, it was that things weren't in their usual place and sofa wasn't smoothed out and plumped up.

Jack felt a strange sadness tugging inside him at the sight and silently wondered whether it was his fault that Ianto had let his standards fall. Cautiously, he pushed the bedroom door open and found that it too was empty. He took a few steps forwards and peered into the bathroom but he wasn't surprised to find that it was devoid of life.

Sighing, he made his way back into the living area and looked around again, trying to work out what to do. On his second look around the flat, he noticed the figure huddled on the floor next to the door. How had he missed him? His heart lurched at the sight of Ianto curled up there, lying in the foetal position. Making his way slowly over to the door, he sat down with his back against the door and rubbed Ianto's back gently, moving his hand in small circles over the crinkled silk shirt.

Slowly, the Welshman's eyes opened and he looked wearily up at Jack. Jack smiled, but Ianto looked away and pushed himself up into a sitting position next Jack, leaning his head on the older man's shoulder.

"Ianto, what's going on with you?" The redness of his eyes confirmed Jack's suspicions that he'd been crying earlier. From the looks of it, he'd cried himself to sleep. He felt Ianto's hand reaching for his and grasped it comfortingly, rubbing his thumb in circles on the young man's palm. They stayed silent for a while.

"I don't deserve you, Jack." He sounded like he was crying again, and it was breaking Jack's heart.

"What do you mean?" He tried to joke but it came out a little too forced, a little sharp.

"You have these two guys… Both want you to go with them, have the universe…" His voice cracked and forced him to stop. "Why don't you go with them?"

Jack's thumb stopped moving as a niggling realisation started to ebb into his mind. He pulled himself to his feet and sighed heavily. He looked down to see Ianto shrinking away from him, tears coursing silently across his cheeks. He stood and watched as the young man wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his head into his knees. He seemed to be collapsing in on himself.

Jack bent down and stroked his hair gently before taking a hold of the top of his arms and pulling him to his feet. Ianto was surprisingly light in his hands and he pulled him into a tight embrace, trying to coerce some reaction out of him. Eventually, tentative hands met around his waist and he heard a shuddering breath as Ianto breathed in buried his face into Jack's neck.

It was becoming obvious to Jack that Ianto hadn't completely recovered from his ordeal with Captain John's interrogation serum. He'd never experienced it himself, but he'd heard the screams in the cells of John's victims. He held the young man close, soothing him as his shoulders shook, supporting him as he slumped against Jack.

When he felt the weight against lessen a little, Jack pulled away and led him over to the sofa.

"I picked up a Chinese takeout, if you feel like it." Ianto nodded slowly and rubbed his face.

"I'll be back in a minute, I need to go sort myself out." He stood up and stumbled through the living area to the bedroom and on to the bathroom. Jack watched him go, feeling a little awkward standing in the kitchen area, making up two plates of food and taking them over to the coffee table and sitting back into the sofa and pinched the bridge of his nose. It would take a while to get through this one.

Ianto emerged a few minutes later, more steady on his feet a little more composed. Jack noted the lack of tie and the water spiking the front of his hair up. The young man made his way over to the sofa and dropped down into the seat next to Jack and leaned forwards, picking up a piece of sweet and sour chicken before leaning back and biting half of it off.

Jack desperately wanted him to open up and talk to him about what was eating at him, but he knew better than to pry. Ianto would talk to him in his own time, he was sure of it. They sat in silence and ate their food, both just being glad of thee other's company. Jack didn't notice that Ianto's food went mostly un eaten.

The Welshman made a good show of eating to occasional piece of chicken, taking his time over it, then poking through the rice and noodles, having a mouthful every so often, but pushing it in directions that gave the illusion of emptying the plate. He stopped the show when he saw Jack coming to the end of his plate and got up to go them both a beer from the fridge. He flicked the bottle caps into the open drawer in front of him before flicking it shut with his hip.

He moved back to the sofa, handed one to Jack and watched as he drained half the bottle in one mouthful. He watched the way Jack's neck moved as he swallowed the alcohol and smiled to himself, thinking just how lucky he was. That only made him hurt a little more inside. He sat down next Jack again and finished his own beer in three mouthfuls. When he looked up, he found Jack looking at him with a strange expression on his face. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Ianto couldn't bring himself to ask. Instead, he leaned forwards and kissed the other man gently and felt him lean into the kiss, relaxing at the feel his lips.

Ianto felt a hands run up his thigh and pulled away, pulling Jack to his feet and kissing him again, furiously, backing into the bedroom. He pulled Jack to him by the front of his shirt and felt his lover's hands pulling his own shirt from his waistband and running up the skin underneath, causing him to shudder with anticipation. He kissed Jack harder and moved his hands to the first of his shirt buttons. He smiled around the kiss when he felt Jack's hands moving around to mirror his own actions, but his stomach dropped when Jack pulled away half way through the task.

"Are you sure about this?" He looked hard into Ianto's eyes and the young man just nodded. "We don't have you to, you know-"

"I want this, Jack… If you do." Jack nodded in reply and kissed him hard again, finishing off with Ianto's shirt and pushing it off his shoulders, running his hands along his shoulders and down his chest, moving slowly over his stomach and resting on the waistband on his trousers.

Ianto managed to fumble his way through the remaining buttons on Jack's shirt, his breathing quickening as he felt Jack's hands rest tantalisingly in place. He took the next step forwards and undid Jack's belt pulling it loose from the buckle and slipping a hand into his trousers and grasping him tightly, causing the older man to hiss and bite down on Ianto's lower lip. Ianto pushed on and kissed Jack deeply again, moving his hand just a little to make the older man moan loudly.

This pushed Jack over the edge and he pushed Ianto down onto the bed, pinning him down and kissing down his neck and chest, biting him at intervals, forcing Ianto to remove his hand to steady himself. After an excruciatingly long time for Ianto, Jack pulled the young man's trousers open, his mouth now caressing the skin around his navel, and pushed the garments down Ianto's legs and onto the floor.

Ianto pushed himself up on his elbows and looked at Jack, now kneeling in front of him. His eyes flashed and he gave Ianto one of his dazzling smiles.

"You ready?" Before Ianto could answer, Jack began and the young man forgot, momentarily, everything that had eaten away at him that day.

* * *

Several hours later, Jack lay on his back, staring at the ceiling of Ianto's bedroom. Ianto lay next to him, sleeping fitfully. He was doing his best to calm him down, stroking the back of his neck and whispering, just like he had the first time he'd stopped at the flat. He swivelled his head round and found the digital clock on the beside table flashing 05:37 am in small red digits. He looked back up at the ceiling and sighed.

A few more minutes passed before the body next to him started to writhe and form a few, mumbled words.

"No… Wouldn't do it… Didn't…" He felt Ianto's unconscious body squirm closer to him, seeking out the comforting heat of his lover. He didn't want to wake him up, but seeing him in that state was painful.

"Stayed… Came back…" With that, he jerked awake, pushing violently against Jack and forcing himself upright and out of bed, staring wildly around as he stumbled to the other side of the room, heading for the door. He hit the wall and slid down, collapsing at the bottom in a heap, breathing heavily. Jack made a move to get out of bed, but when Ianto started shaking uncontrollably, he vaulted over the edge of the bed and skidded to his knees in front of the young man, pulling him roughly into his arms and holding him until the shaking started to subside.

"Jack… Jack, I'm tired…" Ianto's voice was hollow again, half empty like he'd been earlier that day. Ianto buried his head into Jack's neck and Jack slowly pulled him back to his feet and moved him onto the bed, lying him down and covering him up with the duvet and slipping under the covers next to him.

"Why aren't you sleeping, Ianto?" Ianto wormed his arms around Jack's waist and pressed his nose against his chest, mumbling his answer.

"Bad dreams…" Jack started stroking the back of Ianto's neck again and the young man cuddled in closer.

"Talk to me…" Ianto was tracing shapes on his back with a finger, if he hadn't been, Jack would've thought he'd gone to sleep.

"I want to forget everything, Jack… The last few days." His voice sounded a little choked again. "I just want to sleep."

Jack stayed quiet as he felt the tension leave Ianto's body and the young man drifted off into another troubled sleep. He toyed with the idea of retconning away the Doctor's visit, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Retcon shouldn't be used except in serious situations. While this may be emotionally traumatic to Ianto, and on lesser scale himself, it didn't warrant the use of retcon.

Jack lay there, tossing thoughts over in his mind for the entire time. A few times Ianto would start struggling or muttering, but Jack would whisper to him and stroke his hair until he calmed. He knew that Ianto's mind wasn't getting much rest and that the young man would wake up just as tired as before. He looked over at the clock again and read 06:51 am. He would have to get back to the hub in less than an hour, but he couldn't bring himself to wake Ianto up.

He pulled one of his arms free and groped around on the opposite beside table to the clock, finding his mobile and calling Tosh's mobile, glad to hear her answer phone kick in.

"Hi, Tosh, it's Jack. I'm just calling to say that I won't be at the hub when you get there this morning, I'll be an hour or so late. Don't worry about anything. Thanks, see you later."

With that, he hit the 'end call' button and replaced the phone, watching the Welshman sleep for a little bit longer. When another fifteen minutes had passed, he gently shook the young man awake and coerced him into consciousness, rubbing his arms and kissing him gently until Ianto was awake enough to get out of bed. Jack sat him up and left him rubbing his eyes to turn the shower on, coming back through to move him into the bathroom and under the hot jet of the shower, hoping it would help him. He went through to the bedroom to pull out a clean set of clothes for him, but when he returned to see if he was done, the young man was standing in the exact same position.

Jack carefully climbed into the shower behind him and squeezed some shower gel into his hands, gently starting to lather Ianto up, washing him down carefully. After a while, Ianto became more responsive and took over, giving Jack a slight uplift. He climbed out, dried himself and went back to the bedroom to collect his clothes and pull them on, making himself as presentable as he could in two day old clothes.

Ianto shuffled in as Jack was pulling his socks on and started to dress himself in a methodical way, though there were flaws in the method. When Ianto had finished, Jack ended up re-buttoning his shirt and adjusting his tie, due to the haphazard way he'd performed the task himself.

"Do you want something for breakfast?" Jack's stomach tugged when he saw Ianto shake his head and move off to the living area. He followed and found Ianto putting his shoes and socks on and shrugging his coat on, going to stand at the door and wait.

"Coming?" His face was more to normal, his body language and voice showing no sign of the troubled night. Jack smiled, moved over to the chair where he'd left his shoes and coat and pulled them on before looking up to see Ianto holding his hand out and smiling. Jack took it and they left the flat and went down to the car, proceeding to the hub as usual, Jack driving and Ianto hoping his car wasn't going to be destroyed by the time they got to work.

Jack, yet again, had managed to get to the hub unscathed and they got out of the car and made their way into the hub through the Tourist Office. Ianto, as normal, headed straight for the coffee machine, filled it up and turned it on. Jack headed down to the autopsy bay, made a bit of a mess in Owen's storage cupboard, but came back victorious. He grabbed Ianto's arm and pulled him up into his office. He picked up the glass of water on his desk and shook three pills into his hand. He sat a bewildered Ianto down on the sofa and handed him the water. He looked at the pills and looked up at Jack enquiringly.

"Retcon?" The hope in his voice, the possibility of being able to forget part of his life, made Jack want to cry.


	25. Chapter 5: Friend of a Friend

I want to start by wishing everyone a Happy Easter, and I hope you don't get too sick on Janto and chocolate.. I know I won't!

I found this particularly hard to write, purely because of the storyline that's emerging. I went through and I have all the lyrics now prepared for the chapters to be written, and the storyline is all set out for the rest of the Part. Hopefully, the next one will be more action packed, more bullets flying killing aliens stuff, as that's what I like. I just need to fit it in around what's happening between Jack and Ianto.

So yes. Folks, here's the start of the downward spiral, brace yourselves!

**Disclaimer**: I sadly do not own any of the characters below, as much as I'd like to. They belong to Russel T. Davies and I will wash them down and return them just as soon as I'm finished... or I'll have them wash each other... either way, he'll get them back in roughly the same state as before.

_

* * *

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Chapter 5: Friend of a Friend

"**He needs a quiet room, with a lock to keep him**

**In it's just a quiet room, and he's there…"**

- Friend of a Friend, Foo Fighters

* * *

Jack looked at Ianto for a long moment. What should he say? He weighed up the look in Ianto's eyes, the trust and hope, with what could happen when he found out Jack had lied to him. He shook his head slightly. It wasn't worth the risk. Instead, he sat down next to Ianto on the sofa and put his empty hand on the young man's knee.

"Ianto, you know I can't authorise a retcon on you. You know that." He watched as the hope was extinguished by a grudging acceptance, and the traces of his Ianto faded with it. "Someone would say something and it would all be triggered again."

Ianto nodded slowly and looked at the floor. "Yeah, Jack. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even suggested it, it was stupid."

Jack moved his hand up and pulled Ianto's head towards him, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I swiped some sleeping pills, so at least you can get some sleep today." Ianto nodded again and picked up the pills from Jack's hand, knocking them back with a big mouthful of water. "We'll get you through this, Ianto, I promise."

He wrapped his arms around the young man and Ianto leant his head on Jack's shoulder, one hand resting on his chest. Jack rocked him gently and eventually, the Welshman's breathing slowed a little and the hand on his chest became heavier. When Jack was completely sure Ianto was asleep, he eased himself off the sofa and laid him down, reaching into his sleep space to pull out the pillow and blanket, arranging them to make Ianto more comfortable.

He crept out of his office and eased the door closed, keeping as quiet as possible. The effect was ruined when he heard an angry Owen yelling his name.

"HARKNESS!" The man was standing in the doorway to the autopsy bay and glowering at Jack, giving him a look that could've frozen his bones. "What the HELL have you-"

He was stopped as Jack pelted across the hub and slapped a hand over his mouth, desperately trying to get him to quieten down. Owen just looked daggers at him, pointing to the mess down below. Jack deemed it safe to remove his hand and then pulled him into the room.

"What the hell have you done in here?!" Owen voice was no more than a hiss, but it contained enough venom to make Jack flinch.

"I had to get some sleeping pills, but I couldn't remember where you'd put them." He knew his excuse was pretty feeble, and Owen reinforced that.

"So you trashed the place?" He was angry, Jack understood why and tried to makes amends.

"I'll clean it up, don't worry. Just go upstairs, I'll sort it out this morning." Owen glared at him, turned on his heel and stalked off to his workstation.

Jack looked around him and rubbed the back of his head, letting out a low whistle. He really had made a mess. He made his way down the stairs and started to pick up the dropped items, righting one of the racks on wheels and filling the trays up from where he'd emptied them onto the floor. Throughout the process, he couldn't help thinking that Ianto would've been much more efficient at cleaning it up.

* * *

Gwen walked through the huge cog door a little later than usual, on account of having to stop off at the nearest Starbucks to pick a coffee up for everyone. Owen had called her earlier on, almost hysterical at the fact that he hadn't had a cup of coffee yet that morning. He never bothered with one at home because he could always rely on Ianto to have one ready for him when he arrived. That morning had been different. He hadn't seen Ianto, and as the day progressed, he didn't turn up. When he'd asked Tosh, she'd given him the general idea that she didn't know where he was, but expected him not to be there. He had no idea why.

Gwen was starting to find it a little odd as well, and when lunchtime rolled around and they were getting ready to order in the food, her and Owen went to find Jack and interrogate him. They found him sitting in the greenhouse room, sitting behind the desk and going through some files.

"Jack, where's Ianto?" Owen was frank and straight to the point, earning himself a dig in the ribs from Gwen. Jack just looked up at him and smiled ruefully.

"He's in my office, sleeping." When he offered no further explanation, Gwen cleared her throat, but Owen stepped in again.

"It's all well and good for you two to be shagging each other, but you have to remember that Tea-boy's human and requires sleep!" That earned him a second dig in the ribs and a chuckle from Jack.

"It's not because of me." He put down his pen and closed the file before him. "It's after effects of Captain Hart's little prank; paranoia, insomnia, heightened negative emotions… It happened to everyone, but we never used to stick around long enough to see it."

There was a bitter tone to his voice that made Owen bite back the retort he had prepared. Instead, he nodded and motioned to Gwen to wrap up the conversation.

"Well, we're going to order pizzas in, and we were wondering if Ianto would want one?" She had adopted her I'm-sorry-for-your-loss voice which made Jack smile grimly to himself. He just shook his head.

"He hasn't eaten properly for a while, you must've noticed." Gwen watched as Jack rubbed his eyes and sighed. "Just get me a large and he'll probably have a slice or two mine. He wouldn't even touch it if he was faced with a whole one to himself."

Gwen nodded and turned, shoving Owen out of the room and back down to the workstations. Together with Tosh, they ordered the food and discussed what was going on with Ianto, trying to come up with a way to relieve Jack of some of the stress and responsibility that was currently resting on his shoulders.

* * *

When the pizza came, the team sat quietly, discussing the files they'd been going through that morning, talking about the best way to cover up a UFO sighting from earlier in the day and estimating how long they could go for without a serious callout.

At some point, Jack stood up with a slice of pizza and went to the kitchen area to pour a glass of orange juice before disappearing off into his office. The three spectators silently noted that the light stayed off for the entire time Jack was in there. He emerged a while later, a dark expression on his face, with an empty glass and the ends of the pizza slice. He tossed the crust into the bin and dumped the glass in the sink before walking over to Tosh's station to see if there was any rift activity.

Whilst standing behind her chair and watching the monitors, a warning started to flash.

"Weevil alert…" Jack muttered, figuring they'd jinxed themselves earlier.

"In a back street to the South east of the city." Tosh read off the location and looked up at him. "There's two of them Jack."

He nodded and looked around. "You go get the other two and get the SUV prepped and ready." He was walking off towards his office. "That includes topping up the weevil spray!"

He caught a glimpse of her nodding before he crept into his office to search for his gun and coat. He walked over to his desk and sat down, carefully rummaging through his desk drawers in search of the Webley, and pulled it out, holster and all, slipping it over his shoulders and fastening it. He was just moving back to the door when he heard a noise behind him.

"Jack?" Ianto was looking round and pushing himself up, obviously awake again. Jack made his way over and took hold of Ianto's hands as he stood up. "What's wrong, where're you going?"

Jack managed to stop him from rushing off by holding onto his arms. "It's just a couple of weevils, nothing to worry about. We're going to pick them up and we'll be straight back, simple as!" He tried to feign nonchalance, but Ianto wasn't buying it at all.

"Let me come, Jack. You might need another pair of hands if more turn up." Ianto was suddenly more awake and looked straight at him, slight desperation in his eyes. He didn't understand that Ianto wanted to get out, needed to do his job and occupy himself.

"No." Jack had to grip him harder to stop him from struggling free. "You're too tired, you're reaction times aren't good enough. If things get nasty, I don't need to be worrying about whether you're still alive or not."

"Jack, it's my job!" He twisted violently and one of Jack's hands came loose, but the other held firm, fingers painfully gripping onto the writhing upper arm. "You don't pay me to sleep on your sofa all day, so let me do my job!"

Ianto's free hand was trying to pry Jack's grip apart, but the older man was stronger. His grip was slackening, ever so slightly, so he brought his second hand up to grab Ianto's flailing one, twisting it round and pushing it up his back, forcing Ianto onto his knees, facing away from him. The young man let out a yell of frustration and pain and Jack forced him down onto his front, holding his arm firm and pinning him to the floor with his knee. With his free hand, he reached up and activated his ear piece.

"Owen? I need some sort of tranquilliser up here, NOW." His tone gave Owen no time to argue and within thirty seconds, the doctor was coming through the door, flicking the light on to survey the scene.

He was shocked to see Jack pinning the Welshman to the floor, but he was even more shocked to see the tears flowing from his eyes as Ianto howled in pain and fear beneath him. Jack was gritting his teeth and Owen had never sympathised with him more.

"Don't you fucking do it, Owen!" Ianto turned his anger on the doctor, knowing full well that there was nothing he could say to stop the injection. It was confirmed when he felt a sharp pain in his bicep, followed by a wave of fatigue. He felt the weight on top of him lessen and his arm was gently moved down to his side. He tried to fight as strong arms rolled him over and picked him up, but his aching muscles couldn't gather enough strength. He focused all his efforts on one thing as sleep threatened to take him again.

"Fuck you, Jack Harkness…" And with that, blackness closed in around him and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The atmosphere in the SUV was extremely uncomfortable for the two women. They'd met Jack and Owen in the garage, but Jack's face had been so dark and thunderous that neither had dared to ask why, and Owen simply shook his head when they went to ask him. They climbed into the back seats without protesting as Owen got into the passenger side and Jack climbed in behind the wheel.

They'd been driving in silence ever since, Tosh occasionally calling out status and directions. It took them a little over fifteen minutes to find the right alleyway, and Jack jumped out, weevil spray in hand. He scanned the area in front of him for the beasts and saw one hunkering down halfway along the alley. Slowly, carefully, he picked his way down through the rubbish sacks.

"Come on, you miserable piece of crap." His voice had the tone of an owner praising their favourite dog, giving the sentence a sickeningly twisted echo between the walls. The thing turned its stubbly head towards him and he leered at it, lunging forward and spraying the canister in his hand directly into it's eyes. The thing howled and scrabbled away, but Jack pulled out his stun gun and tasered it's shoulder, making it drop to the group with a thump. He pulled out a hood and tied it over the creature's head, leaving it for Owen to inject with a sedative before moving off to find the other one.

He repeated the process quickly on the second one, not caring about the risk he was putting himself in. All he could think about was Ianto lying drugged up on his sofa, locked inside the room. It was for his own good, but the howls of fear and the look of betrayal in his eyes, lacing his words, made Jack feel like scum. He hated himself for it.

He hooded the fallen weevil and hoisted it over his shoulder, marching back to the SUV and shoving it roughly into the back, waiting for Owen and the two girls to drag the first one over, helping them pile it in on top of the other.

In less that ten minutes after arriving on the scene, they were returning to the hub. Jack's mood hadn't improved at all and Owen was still staying silent about it. Tosh had heard the yells echoing around the hub, heard Ianto screaming and pleading with Jack to get off him as she'd returned to fetch her tracker device from her desk. The sound had been almost haunting. She sympathised with Jack for whatever had occurred between them and kept up the appearance that she knew nothing out of respect.

The drive back was as equally uncomfortable as the outgoing journey, and everyone involved was relived when Jack parked the SUV and went round to gather up one of the weevils and drag it into the hub and down to a cell. Owen followed with the second one a few minutes later and found Jack leaning against the Perspex door and gazing blindly at the unconscious creature inside. He dealt with the weevil over his shoulder, then went to stand by his Captain.

"There was nothing else you could've done, Jack." Owen put a hand on his shoulder tentatively, feeling a little out of his depth. He felt the men give out a long, shuddering breath.

"The look in his eyes though, Owen." He was shaking his head. "It's all my fault. All of this, everything that's happening to him. It's all my fault…"

"Jack, without you, he would've killed himself a long time ago." Jack looked up sharply at that, staring intently at Owen's face. "He said it was knowing you'd given him another chance after Lisa, that you hadn't executed him, was what got him through her death."

That made him feel even worse. "_Fuck you, Jack Harkness…"_ The malice of the words echoed through his mind like knives. This wasn't something that they could fix. He shouldn't have stopped Ianto from coming, or he should've stayed in the hub. Either way, he'd messed up the situation, he'd made the worst possible outcome happen. _At least he's not dead…_ He silently thought to himself, but he immediately corrected himself. _But I'm as good as to him._

He reached up and patted Owen's hand before sighing and trudging back up to the hub, trying to take his mind off Ianto and focus on his work. He knew he'd have to write up the weevil captures, make the reports and file them for future reference. It wasn't a particularly demanding task, but it was the best he could hope for.

He took the empty report papers over to the coffee table behind Tosh and sat down, ready to fill them out. He allowed himself one more wistful look at his office door before he turned his attention, whole heartedly, to the sheets in front of him.


	26. Chapter 6: Over and Out

**SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 12: FRAGMENTS**

(you have been warned)

Okay, the whole flashback sequence was put in for my friend Naomi, as she's been patient enough to sit and read through this whole thing and pointout typos (which I tend to make alot of, as you may have already guessed). She wanted a mention of Ianto's recruitment story from Epsiode 12, so I decided to slip in here. I apologise if any of you find it tedious, but I found it quite suitable, especially to keep the word count at about the right level.

Hope you all like it!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Torchwood or it's wonderful characters, they belong to Russel T. Davies.

* * *

_Chapter 6: Over and Out_

"**Cages and alarms, Keeping us from harm**

**I will be the guard, Hope to rest upon"**

-Over and Out, Foo Fighters

* * *

Owen had assured Jack that the tranquilliser would last for good long time, well into the night, but despite that, Jack still asked him to stay. The women went home at the usual time, and Jack and Owen stayed and shuffled through work, finishing off filing and archiving that Ianto would normally have done.

It was past midnight when they heard movements from within the office. Jack looked up sharply at the groans coming from behind the door and made his way cautiously over to it. He stood and listened to what was going on inside. He could hear Ianto shuffling around, muttering about his arm. Jack felt a twinge in his stomach, sincerely hoping he hadn't done too much damage.

Then he saw the door handle twist uselessly and heard the hissed swearing in response. Owen was creeping up behind him, standing back and waiting for a command from Jack if he was needed. Both men jumped when they heard Ianto's fist connect with the door. It was followed by more swearing and more pounding. When that abated there was more rattling of the door handle and a frantic stream of muttering, slightly hysterical.

"Jack?!" The pounding started again. "Let me out of here!"

Ianto's voice was full of fear and anguish, and Jack felt himself reach unconsciously for the key in his pocket. He didn't realise until Owen grabbed his wrist, making him look up. The doctor shook his head and Jack nodded slightly. He leaned back against the wall and forced himself to listen to Ianto's yelling and pleading. It flickered between anger and violence to heart wrenching begging, pain and fear present throughout.

Jack had just about had enough when the noise stopped. There was a faint thump and a sliding noise and the sound of sobbing. Jack looked back at Owen who nodded slowly and let him open the door.

When Ianto heard the click of the lock, he pushed himself away from the door and backed as far from it as he could manage. He watched as the silhouette of Jack marked out against the lights from the hub and he winced as the man flicked the lamp on, sending a moody lighting throughout the room.

He felt the most conflicting emotions he'd ever experienced, warring inside him for control. Part of him was furious at the man in front of him for drugging him and locking him away, for forcing him into a sleep he didn't want. The next part was terrified of him, not wanting to go anywhere near him in case he did it again. The final part of him just wanted to curl up in his arms and cry until everything was right again.

He lunged forwards and planted a surprisingly co-ordinated punch on Jack's jaw, sending him spinning off into the door frame. He darted for the open door, but Jack was too quick and slammed it before he could get through, holding it closed as Ianto battled with him for escape. The young man felt all strength leave him and pounded feebly a few times on the wood before feeling Jack's hands grasp the top of his arms again and shake him lightly, forcing him to make eye contact. He saw that Jack's eyes were red, tears spilling out, his jaw set in grim determination.

Ianto looked at him for a long time, realising his face was in a similar state to Jack's. He studied the expression, tried to find even a trace of malice in it, but failed. His eyes poured pure, unadulterated concern and affection. It was too much for Ianto.

He collapsed against Jack, crying like a wounded animal, crying like when he'd held Lisa's maimed, lifeless body for the last time. All the pain and fear and guilt he'd been feeling released itself as he clung to Jack, begging for forgiveness. He felt Jack's arms wind around him, holding him firmly, reassuringly. He vaguely registered that his lover, too, was crying, silently, his breathing ragged as he tried to keep control of himself.

He remembered the time Gwen had fought against him when Rhys died, the same feeling of helplessness gripped him. All he could do was hold Ianto until the howls of pain abated, trying to ignore his raw and bloodied knuckles from the pounding on the door. It seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but eventually the man sagged, falling into sobs that wracked his body. Jack allowed them both to sink to the floor, sticking his legs out in front of him and pulling Ianto's prone form onto his lap, his arms still tightly around him.

"Why, Jack?" His voice was cracked and tearful, another jolt to the stomach.

"I couldn't Ianto… It was my fault already, I didn't want you to be in any more danger because of me." His own voice was thick with tears. "It was the only way to keep you safe…"

He nodded slowly and gripped onto the front of Jack's shirt with one hand, the other winding it's way into his hair for comfort. Jack got the strong feeling of holding a child, cradling it as the last remnants of a nightmare were shaken off. The sobs diminished and the ragged breathing evened out and Jack realised Ianto had fallen asleep. He tentatively pressed his earpiece and opened a line to Owen.

"You can go home now, Owen." His voice was weary, cracked and tired, as if he'd been in a yelling match for hours.

"Is everything alright in there now?" The rare concern in Owen's voice soothed Jack a little. It was good to know his team were standing by him.

"No, but it's not any worse." They exchanged a few more pleasantries before Owen closed off the communications and Jack heard him wandering around outside, collecting together his things so he could go home. Jack sighed to himself and started to rock Ianto's sleeping body gently, more for his own benefit than for Ianto's. Soon, strain that the emotional turmoil had put on his mind caught up with him, and he found himself following Ianto into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

Jack's eyes snapped open as he heard a clang from outside the office. He almost jumped up, but realised, just in time, that Ianto was still curled up on him. He sighed and stroked the young man's hair gently before easing the door open and trying to peer out. He successfully caught a glimpse of Tosh cursing and picking up her desk tidy which had apparently fallen to the floor. Sighing again, he wrapped his arms tighter around the warm body before him and closed his eyes, wondering what the day would bring for the two of them.

A while later, he heard voices drifting up from the hub and realised that Owen and Gwen had also turned up. He made up his mind, then and there, to put Ianto on sick leave. The Welshman was in no fit state to be working, but Jack needed him to be somewhere safe, so the hub was the best place for him, at least for the time being.

He looked down at Ianto again and gently kissed his head. The young man started and woke suddenly, his hands gripping on tighter to his shirt and neck. He looked up fearfully at Jack, who simply smiled down at him. The look in Ianto's eyes soothed and he managed a weary smile back which gave Jack a small spark of encouragement.

Jack gingerly shifted and got to his feet, supporting Ianto upright and guiding him over to the sofa. The young man collapsed down into the nest of bedding and cushions and promptly fell asleep again. Jack smiled sadly at the young man and thought about the mess of chemicals still in his body. He had no doubt that the sleeping pills and tranquilliser were still working on him, together they'd been a huge dose.

He sat and watched Ianto a while longer, stroking his hair, covering him up and smoothing out the blanket, making sure he was comfortable. He'd never thought he could be this domesticated and allowed himself a small smile, a little chuckle at the wonderful absurdity of his current situation.

He'd spent so many years travelling, rebelling against everything he deemed to be 'normal', killing himself for money, sleeping with men, women… even a few beings he hadn't been able to identify in the morning… None of them compared to the man now lying before him, sleeping like a small child.

He could remember the first time he met Ianto as if it was yesterday.

_The weevil was one of the stronger ones. It had lured him right out into the local forest, and they were standing in a clearing, snarling at each other. Jack stared it in the eye and feinted to the right, it realised the trick and lunged right at him, knocking him back into a tree. That was when the fist fight began. He was managing to hold his ground, but the weevil lifted him off his feet and he adjusted his weight to bring them both crashing to the floor. He rolled and punched down at the weevil a couple of times, but he was overpowered._

_He felt sharp teeth at his neck, knowing he was going to suffer another death at the hands… or rather teeth of the weevil, he screamed in pain, as even though he was immortal, having your jugular ripped open by numerous serrated pieces of ivory hurt like hell. He was ready for the black fog to curl in when he saw feet next to him and felt a blow to the creature on top of him. _

_Another blow and the weevil looked up at the young man who'd come to his rescue. The weevil got up and started to attack him, and Jack took the chance to fumble for the weevil spray in his pocket. When he had it in hand, he dived at the alien, knocking it off the man and to the floor. He pinned it down, disorientated it with the spray and pulled the hood from his coat, slipping it over the weevil's ugly, stubbly head. He gave it the sedative injection to the neck for the final touch before rubbing his neck. Healing really did hurt like a bitch._

_It was then that he took in the young man before him. He stood confidently, dressed in tight jeans and a leather jacket. He smiled inwardly at the studded leather belt hooked through the loops of the jeans and made a mental note that he now found that attractive in a guy._

"_Thanks." The voice that came from the man was one of the sexiest welsh accents he'd heard in a long time. There was a lilt to it that suggested he'd lived somewhere else for a while which emphasised the way the natural accent spun the vowels._

"_No, thank _you_." He rubbed his neck where the skin had melded together, glancing at his bloodied knuckles. "And you are?"_

"_Jones, Ianto Jones." The young man leaned against the tree, needing to steady himself a little from the fight. __**Not as much as he **_**should**_** need to… But hey, he does look like an athlete of some sort…**__ Jack had to suppress the laugh that tickled his throat at that thought._

"_Nice to meet you, Jones Ianto Jones." Jack leaned forwards and shook the young man's hand. The unintentional introduction being too much for him to pass over. He was sure this Ianto guy wouldn't hold it against him. "Captain Jack Harkness."_

"_Lucky escape." He smiled and looked down at the weevil, and Jack was surprised to see that he didn't flinch at the sight of the hunched back and abnormal hand structure, the claws curled into fists from the sedative. He seemed to be analysing the situation, like one of his team would have._

"_I had it under control." Jack looked from the weevil to the young man, a little insulted that he thought he'd needed help, even if he actually had done._

"_You think so? It looked pretty vicious." That made him chuckle a little. This guy wasn't half bad. Maybe he'd have some fun before he retconned him later on. "You're um…" The young man's hand came forwards to touch his still sore neck and he leaned back instinctively to stop skin contact. The man noticed the lack of flesh wounds and stopped, correcting himself. "You _were_, bleeding"_

"_I've had worse from shaving." Perhaps that saucy night in wouldn't be appropriate now, though the look on Ianto Jones' face didn't suggest repulsion, just a vague amusement and interest before he looked back at the unconscious weevil again._

"_It looked like a weevil to me…" Warning bells were set off in Jack's head, but he didn't miss a beat._

"_I've no idea what you're talking about." The man gave him a look that suggested to, no, informed Jack that he knew it was a bare faced lie. That intrigued him no end. "I'll take him from here"_

_He stepped closer to the weevil and pulled it up and onto his shoulders, carrying it in a fireman's lift before sighing and looking at the young man for a final time before heading back to the SUV. _

"_Thanks for the assistance." There was a slight challenge in the young man's eyes that he met with his own, interest still bubbling inside him. He would be checking this guy out as soon as he got back to the hub._

"_Anytime." He walked away, back turned to the cute young Welshman. __**That accent really is quite arousing**__, Jack's thoughts carried him off so much he almost didn't hear the last sentence. "By the way, I love the coat."_

_He shook his head , knowing that the night time of fun he was imagining was never going to happen. Something told him that this guy was more than just a member of the public to be duped and forgotten about. He had a feeling this wasn't the last time he'd see Jones Ianto Jones._

_He'd been right. The next morning, on leaving the Tourist Office, he'd been met with the young man offering him a cup of coffee. He took it and was blown away by the first mouthful. __**Maybe I could hire him just to make the coffee… I don't think the others would protest**__. When he said he wanted to work for him, Jack had to remember that this guy was a liability. A cast off of Torchwood London. He'd have been trained to think that the Doctor, _his_ Doctor, was the biggest threat to humanity that there was. He couldn't allow someone like that into the hub._

_Ianto had been persistent, almost to the point of convincing Jack to give him a job, especially as he was just as attractive by daylight as he had been by moonlight. But it had annoyed him when he'd insinuated that Jack owed him for the loss of Torchwood London, for the horrific memories he was bound have of Canary Wharf. He couldn't help but smile to himself as the second compliment about his coat drifted along the board walk to him._

_The pterodactyl incident had been nothing short of spectacular. Not only had he seen how the man worked, methodically and efficiently, but he'd seen him in action. He wasn't phased by a hungry dinosaur at all, or his overly obvious sexual banter. In fact, he'd managed to keep a cool and witty exterior for the entire time. Despite the offer to be the guard dog or the butler, he was becoming more attractive to Jack by the second. When they'd been knocked over and were lying on the floor, Jack got flashbacks of the thoughts from their first meeting. He didn't fancy putting the moves on the young man in front of an unconscious dinosaur though and wasn't too disappointed when Ianto got up. He took another look at the young man. He looked really good in a suit. Really good._

"_I like the suit, by the way." _

And so it had all begun. Jack sighed, took one last look at the sleeping man and got up, heading out of his office and round to the work stations. Tosh was sitting at hers and diligently working through her current project, the new rift predictor program, muttering to herself as she worked. He looked round to see Gwen and Owen talking to each other at Owen's desk. They looked up as they noticed Jack walking towards them and Gwen smiled sympathetically. Owen had obviously filled her in on the events of the night before.

"Jack… What're you going to do about Ianto?" Owen looked at him seriously, arms folded across his chest. Jack just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. It was a little sore from the odd angle he'd had it at whilst he slept.

"Keep him here, til he's orientated again. Then I'm sending him home, a few days of sick leave should get him back on his feet enough for work." Owen opened his mouth to protest. "He needs normality… You know Ianto, he'd started filing his kitchen utensils in alphabetical order if we left him for too long."

The joke hung in the air with an ironic reality. They all knew something like that would happen if Jack sent Ianto home. He sighed and looked back up to his office.

"For now, I'll just keep him here…" He walked back over to his office, muttering to himself. "I'll keep you safe, Ianto."


	27. Chapter 7: On the Mend

Yaaaay, more of this one, my baby! I should give it a pet name really... if anyone comes up with a good pet name (like Truman or Herbert or something like that, let me know!) OH! Good idea time people!

Who ever comes up with **my favourite name** for the pet name will get to **give me a scenario** (Torchwood, Jack and Ianto) to write for them. That's right, the **prize for the competition is a one shot Janto fic** (of your chosing, I'm just going tow rite it) and **the pet** **name in this fic's description**!

Hurry, I'll close the competition at **the end of Part 3**!

So now that's over with, this one was a little hard to write, for multiple reasons, but I'm glad I got it done, and I hope you all enjoy it! Woooo, yay, Torchwood sleepover with my friends tonight! I also apologise for all the films in it, I've been on a mini DVD rampage this week )

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing below, they belong to Russel T. Davies and the filsm belong to their wonderful actors and directors (Big up the Pythons!)

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* * *

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Chapter 7: On the Mend

"**One more day that I've survived, Another night alone**

**Pay no mind I'm doing fine, I'm breathing on my own"**

-On the Mend, Foo Fighters

* * *

The next day wound on with little to no interesting activity. Jack would run up to his office every hour or so, the amount of time he disappeared varying. Several times he'd gone up to find Ianto still asleep, sometimes he would be sitting up and reading a book.

The sleeping moments varied enormously. Mostly it was light, his eyelids flickering backwards and forwards as his eyes moved about beneath, but occasionally Jack would go up to find the you man thrashing and muttering to himself. It was those times that he knelt down and held him in place to stop him falling off, whispering quietly about nothing at all to sooth him. He was getting used to calming him down whilst he slept, and he knew precisely what to say and do to make it effective.

When the end of the day came, and the other three had left the hub, Jack had gone to his office and found Ianto sitting up, blinking at the book in front of him. Jack was painfully aware that he hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day, but he knew Ianto wasn't likely to want anything. Instead, he brought up a glass of water and a large mug of tea, leaving them on his desk whilst he conveniently left to go pick something up from the hub. He smiled when he returned to see Ianto cross legged on the sofa and drinking the tea.

He went and sat down next to him, rubbing his back in small circles for a while, almost drifting off. He smiled even more when Ianto finished the tea, took Jack's hand and led him down into the sleep space. He quickly changed into pyjama trousers and clambered back out to retrieve the bedding from the sofa, throwing it down and following just after. Jack was slightly incredulous when the young man curled up around him and fell promptly off to sleep again.

He chuckled to himself and wrapped his arms around the sleeping body, resting his chin on the top of Ianto's head and letting himself sleep again. There was something about holding Ianto that he found very therapeutic.

* * *

The next day was similar, so at about five in the afternoon, Jack announced that he was taking Ianto home. None of the others had seen him since the day the Doctor had left, and only Owen was prepared for the state in which he emerged from Jack's office in.

He'd changed out of his suit that would've been three days old and was wearing a plain t-shirt and a pair of baggy jeans, both contrasting badly with the smart black shoes he had chosen to wear. His face looked haggard, the black circles under his more prominent and his eyes were dull, no sign of the usual flash of intelligence. Owen had tried to explain to the two women what was raging inside Ianto's body, but it hadn't prepared them.

He made no attempt at eye contact when he allowed Jack to guide through the hub and onto the elevator, clinging to the front of Jack's shirt to steady himself as they rose through the pavement. He hadn't spoken a word all day. Jack guided him across the plass and got him into the car, climbing behind the wheel and speeding to get back to Ianto's flat.

They reached it in the normal, rushed manner and Jack continued his role of carer, helping Ianto out of the car and into the building. He turned back to press the automatic lock in the direction of the car and Ianto was already starting to climb the stairs. He rushed to his side as soon as the car flashed an affirmation and held his hand as the young man made his way up the flights of stairs. He carried on holding Ianto's hand as the man made his own way down the corridor, stopping just before his front door to let Jack unlock it. He stood very still when Jack pushed the door open and looked in carefully, still not saying a word.

Jack squeezed his hand and gently tugged him inside, sitting him down on the sofa. He was relieved when Ianto started to pull his own shoes and socks off, but winced as he threw them in the direction of the dining table. His Ianto was all but gone. Sighing, Jack pulled his own boots off and put them by the table and hung his coat over the back of the chair, slipping his mobile from his coat pocket to his trouser pocket and moving into the kitchen area. He flicked the kettle on and made two cups of tea. He may not be that great at making coffee, but tea was one of Jack's secret talents.

He looked over in surprise when the TV started blaring and found Ianto kneeling on the floor in front of it, holding an open DVD case and watching as the DVD player winked into life and accepted the DVD. Seeing the menu screen shimmering on, he retreated to the sofa and dug around for the remote control. Jack looked up to see what film it was and found that they were going to be watching The Shawshank Redemption. He smiled to himself, he hadn't known the young man liked the film.

He picked up the cups of tea and took them over to the living area, sitting down on the sofa next to Ianto and propping his feet on the coffee table, offering the young man a mug. He accepted it silently and took a mouthful. Jack watched as Ianto relaxed a little and sunk into the sofa, hitting the play button on the remote and starting the film rolling.

Over the next hour or so, Jack noted that Ianto had finished his tea and slipped sideways on the sofa, ending up with his head resting on Jack's stomach, as he himself had slid all the way down so he was lying almost horizontally. Ianto's hand was lying next to his head and his fingers were tracing patterns over the material of Jack's shirt, letting him know he was still awake and watching the film.

They were about three quarters of the way through when Jack's mobile went off in his pocket, making the young man jump away from him. Jack scrabbled to get his phone out and flicked it open, holding it to his ear. It was Tosh. There'd been an alien sighting in a local restaurant and they had to go get it. There were human injuries, suspected murders to clean up too.

He groaned and looked at his watch. It was barely even eight and he was being called away. He looked up at Ianto and the young man just nodded. He leaned forwards and kissed the young man on the cheek, a little surprised when Ianto leaned unconsciously into it, saddened a great deal by his constant lack of speech. He got to his feet and gave Ianto a hug before pulling his boots and coat back on.

"I'll call you in an hour, and then every hour after that until I come back, I promise." He went back to Ianto, gave him a last kiss on the head and exited the flat, wishing desperately that he could just stay there with his broken lover.

* * *

Ianto looked around him, knowing instantly that Jack wouldn't be coming back that night, the call was going to take all of the dark hours and probably most of the next day to clean up. He sighed heavily and pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa and wrapping it around his torso. He flicked on the DVD again and watched the end of the film. He really did like it, the whole current of hopelessness and pain washed away in the last ten minutes. He loved how Andy was so smart through the whole thing and got the best of everyone.

When the credits started rolling, he looked through his DVD collection again and this time pulled out the Bourne Identity and slotted it into the DVD player. He managed to watch the entire film, only interrupted by Jack's promised calls. Watching that led him to watching the Bourne Supremacy, and when that finished and sleep didn't come easily, he slotted the Bourne Ultimatum in and watched the entirety of it.

By this point, it was almost four in the morning, and Ianto's head was buzzing. Jack had called several more times, every hour, as promised, but Ianto had simply muttered a few words, letting him know he was there and alive and not completely gone. He wandered through to his bedroom after the last call and sat down in front of his pillow, facing the headboard and trying to stop the thoughts from spinning through his mind. He clutched it and groaned as a headache started to pound from his temples. Pulling himself up, he shuffled to the bathroom, searching through the medicine cabinet for the painkillers and popping three ibuprofen from the sleeve, downing them with a gulp of water straight from the tap.

He returned to his bed and resumed his position looking at the headboard, thinking again. Eventually, the pounding died away and he looked at the clock on his beside table. He couldn't read it, his vision was too blurry. Shaking his head he looked towards his bedside table, a hand unconsciously closing around the handle and pulling it open.

After a moment's thought, he reached into it and pulled out the envelope, taking it in both hands and turning it over, blinking furiously to try and clear his vision. He slowly got to his feet and headed out into the living area again, sitting down on the sofa and clearing a space on the coffee table. He laid out the mirror and the razor, before pulling out the small plastic bag.

There was another moment's thought before he shook out a trail of white powder onto the shiny glass surface and picked the razor up, cutting through the line slowly and straightening it out. After ten minutes of repeating the process his pulled out the £20 note and rolled it up. Taking a deep breath, he placed one end to his right nostril, held his left one closed and leaned forwards, breathing in deeply through his nose and moving the other end of the tube sharply along the mirror.

He gasped and yelled at the momentary pain and pinched his nose in an attempt to stop it. The stinging quickly subsided and he had a sudden clarity of mind which allowed him to gather the utensils together and slot them back in the envelope with the small plastic bag. He headed back into the bedroom and shoved the envelope back into his bedside table before lying down on the bed, shivering slightly.

He was already feeling better than he had for days, his mind properly awake and clear enough to not need to think. He managed a smile as the gnaw of hunger in his stomach started to fade. The clear landscape of his mind allowed the sleep that he desperately needed to cradle him away and within ten minutes of lying down, he was fast asleep. It wasn't a particularly deep sleep, but it wasn't as troubled as it had been.

* * *

Jack returned to the flat at about 7:30 the next morning. The team had managed to clear up the situation and contain it. The alien had been shot as it attempted to run across the rooftops, Jack's aim being much sharper that it'd counted on. Tosh had assured him that she would sort out the cover stories and retcon orders as soon as she got to the hub after getting a change of clothes. Jack could've kissed her when she said that, but settled on giving her a bonus in her next pay check.

He's stopped off at the hub briefly to pick up a change of clothes before hurrying back to Ianto's flat and letting himself in. He went through to the bedroom to check on Ianto and once he'd assured himself that the young man was fine, he closed the door and turned to the living area. He decided right then that he was going to tidy the place up. He made a short action plan in his head and started.

He first picked up all the dirty dishes and piled them in the sink, then he grabbed a plastic bag and filled it with all the rubbish he could see, most of which was cluttering up the sideboard and coffee table. He could already see an improvement. Next was straightening out the sofa and smoothing the cushions out, moving swiftly on to tidying up the magazines and the post that lay on and under the coffee table. Finally, he put all the CDs and DVDs back in their rightful places in the holders and went back to the kitchen, flicking the kettle on to make himself a cup of tea while he washed up.

It was closing in on nine o'clock when Ianto emerged from the bedroom, still fully clothed and in a mess. He looked startled at the sight of Jack and disappeared back into the bedroom. Jack couldn't help but chuckle at the look that had been on his face. About half an hour later, Ianto emerged again, obviously having had a shower, given that his hair was wet. He was wearing a dark grey, fitted t-shirt with a picture of an original Nintendo controller on it and a pair of dark, slightly baggy jeans. If it hadn't been for the fact that the bags were still harshly present under his eyes and the slight pallor to his face, Jack would've thought it was a normal day off for the man.

This time, when he saw Jack, he smiled and came over to the kitchen area, where Jack was seated, drinking a cup of tea. He came round behind him and slipped his arms round Jack's shoulders, leaning his chin on his head.

"Did you clean up in here?" Jack laughed at the incredulity in the young man's voice and grinned. Inside, his heart was rocketing around at the sound of Ianto's voice again. He hadn't realised quite how much he'd missed it. He just leaned back slightly into the Welshman's arms, glad to see his Ianto was back with him.

"I have been known to fix homes as well as wreck them." Ianto chuckled and drew away gently, flicking the kettle on.

"Could I interest you in a coffee, sir?" Jack looked around and gave him a sideways look.

"You're too kind, Mr. Jones." He watched Ianto make the coffee and took it off him hungrily as soon as he removed the spoon from the mug. He took a deep breath, savouring the smell before having a mouthful and groaning loudly with unrestrained pleasure. "You would not believe how much I've missed your coffee."

He rested his elbows on the counter, mug still in hands and closed his eyes, humming happily at the heat source. Ianto ran his fingers through Jack's hair and kissed to top of his head before heading round to the other side of the counter and sitting on the stool. He pulled Jack's abandoned cup of tea towards him and decided to finish it off as it was still quite hot.

"So, what're we going to do today?" Jack looked at Ianto, who returned his gaze with a little smile.

"You don't have to stay Jack, they need you back at the hub." He barely had a chance to finish the sentence before Jack started waving his hand.

"They can call me if they need me. I'd much rather spend the day with you anyway." He smiled at the look of thanks in Ianto's eyes and took hold of his hands, which were resting on the counter. "That leads me nicely back to my original question, what're we going to do today?"

Ianto looked down at their hands as he thought about what he'd want to do. Quite frankly, he was happy to spend the day running around after Jack being his personal butler, just as long as he spent the day with him. He knew Jack wouldn't let him do that, so he came to the next best conclusion.

"I have a load of DVDs that I never got to see… I bought them when you were away, but we've kind of been busy since then." He thought about the bag of action films he'd gotten the day before Jack's return, then suddenly realised what he'd said. "Not that I mind! I was much happier when you came back home."

"Okay, DVDs it is then." Jack just cut in, waving away the look of momentary panic in Ianto's eyes. He pointed to the duffel bag sitting on one of the dining chairs. "Mind if I go get changed first? I've been in these clothes for too long…"

Ianto laughed at him and waved him through to the bathroom. As Jack passed him, he tilted Ianto's face upwards and kissed him lovingly on the lips for a long moment. Ianto eventually pushed him away and he made his way through to the bathroom to shower and change into a new set of clothes. He delved into his bag and looked at the other things he'd picked up from the hub.

He had his toothbrush and mobile phone, as well as a spare pair of socks and a change of underwear. Underneath was nestled a bottle of sleeping pills, a scanner and a syringe that Owen had made up of sedative, should Ianto fly out of control again. He looked guiltily at the hidden items before grabbing his toothbrush and running it round his mouth once or twice. He had the nasty feeling of his teeth being fuzzy.

When he was satisfied, he dropped the brush into the cup on the side of the sink, with Ianto's, and looked in the mirror, running his fingers through his hair a couple of times before snapping the suspenders over his shoulders and making his way back into the living area, careful to pick up all his dirty clothes and his bag.

Ianto saw the bundle of screwed up clothes and walked over, holding his hand out. Jack looked at him with a confused expression on his face and Ianto just raised his eyebrows, taking them from him, disappearing briefly to get the laundry basket and returning. At the look on Jack's face, he rolled his eyes and headed back to the kicthen area.

Ianto dropped to his knees by the washing machine. He separated all the dirty clothes, both Jack's and his own, into dark, coloured and whites, and shoved the biggest pile, the dark clothes, into the washing machine. He threw in a couple of gel packets, closed the door and twisted one of the dials to set it going. He turned around to see Jack smirking at him.

"If you're going to be like that, I'm not going to wash your clothes again." Ianto knew the exact effects the words would have and was pleased when Jack's face was cleared of humour and he nodded and turned to delve through the bred bin. Ianto chuckled and headed over to the sofa, leaning over the back and producing the bag of DVDs.

He turned to see that Jack was putting slices of bread in the toaster and looked back to the items in the bag. He'd bought the box set of Quentin Tarantino films, including Pulp Fiction, the Kill Bill volumes and Reservoir Dogs, as well as The Big Lebowski and the box set of Monty Python films. He gave a little laugh and pulled one of the DVDs free from the sleeve.

When Jack made his way over, carrying two mugs of tea and a plate piled up with toast, and he looked at the open case in confusion. He tried to read it upside down and managed to make out: "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". He looked up to see Ianto making his way back over to the sofa and he handed him a mug of tea whilst putting the other things down on the coffee table.

He settled down and watched the TV blink into life wearily. There was a first time for everything, he supposed.

* * *

**A/N: Map of Ianto's Flat**

I was getting confused as I lay in bed last night, trying to think of how the flat was laid out, and I realise that in my head, I had things totally messed up. I also realised that there wasn't anywhere for the laundry to be done, as I visualised the kitchen area as too small for a washing machine and a tumble dryer… I never really explain that properly, but I always thought Ianto would do his own washing.

COMMENTS ARE VITAL! If you have any problems with the layout, please either say in a review or PM them to me, it would really help with making this as realistic as possible.

Reviews are love!


	28. Chapter 8: Virginia Moon

Tough shapter to write, but I personally really love it... I dunno why, I think because it's just a nice Jack and Ianto spending time together (again) but it starts to set up the storyline for the next Part (hint hint) and being (I think) well characterised, though please correct me if you think differently!

Gawd, I think I've been high on caffeine and chocolate for too long.. I mean, a week into my holdays with less than two weeks left before my art GCSE, and I've done literally no homework... So there may be a reduction in the amount of fics I get up here, at least til I've done a reasonable amount of art work. Hopefully, I'll be able to spend the days writing it in my head as I paint and draw and then I can type it up in the evening whilst I'm having me time. Sounds the best for everyone really!

Did anyone see John Barrowman in Hotel Babylon? (check BBC iPlayer if you're in the UK and haven't seen it) He's so awesome as a camp film director (like melodramatic for the whole thing) and it's just funny to watch, I recommend it to everyone!

I hope you enjoy this chapter

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing below... Seriously, absolutely nothing below belongs to me, no matter how much I wish it did. Characters belong to Russel T. Davies and the films/characters/actors belong to who they belong to... so the Pythons really!

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_Chapter 8: Virginia Moon_

"**Secret fascination, whisper a quiet tune **

**Hear me callin' you, Virginia Moon, I'll wait for you tonight"**

-Virginia Moon, Foo Fighters

* * *

Jack hadn't laughed that much for a very long time. To be honest, be couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so much that he'd cried. As he watched Graham Chapman fighting John Cleese as the Black Knight, he thought he may have passed out from lack of oxygen. He'd been laughing so hard as the Knight kept on insisting he could fight that his lungs had forgotten to take in air. Ianto had been in a similar state from simply watching Jack's reaction.

The simple fact that Jack had never seen the Pythons in action had spurred him on to put the other 3 DVDs in. When they got to the end of the final film, it was about lunchtime. Jack looked at his watch, wiping a stray tear from his eye and sighing happily. All that laughing had made him hungry, and he'd eaten most of the pile of toast he'd made that morning. He pushed away the observation that Ianto's half slice lay forgotten on the table with only a couple of bites taken from it.

"What shall I order in?" Jack sat up and ran his hands through his hair before looking over to Ianto.

"I'm not fussed.. Pizza maybe?" Ianto smiled and Jack knew then that he wasn't going to eat much of whatever it was he ordered in,

"Shall I just get one for us to split?" As Ianto nodded, Jack pulled his mobile out of his pocket and leaned forwards, elbows on knees, to hit the speed dial number for the local pizzeria. He was distracted from ordering when Ianto stood up on the sofa and slid down into the gap behind him, wrapping his legs around his waist and slipping his arms over Jack's chest, starting to kiss his bare neck gently.

When Jack started stammering a little over the phone, Ianto couldn't help but chuckle, making Jack bite back a groan of pleasure and quickly end the order. As soon as the connection was cut, he let the groan out and sunk back into the young man's embrace. Ianto was gently biting the flesh on Jack's neck, making him unconsciously turn into it, a shiver of longing running through him.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mr. Jones?" Jack's voice came out huskier than he expected, the strain of controlling his heart rate a little more than he'd anticipated. He felt Ianto smile against his skin before replying.

"Is it working?" The amusement was evident in his voice and Jack took the challenge. He snaked his hands around Ianto's thighs and hoisted himself to his feet, Ianto clinging onto his back and laughing happily as he made his way into the bedroom. Jack felt a small jolt in the region of his stomach at how light Ianto was, but was distracted when Ianto climbed off his back, onto the bed.

He stood on the end of the bed, arms around Jack's shoulders and smiled down at him as he twisted around and looked up, a grin on his face. Ianto let out a small moan as Jack ran his hands under his t-shirt, running slowly along his stomach and moving his lips to place gentle kisses on the soft skin of his torso. Ianto shivered a little and wound his fingers into Jack's hair to steady himself.

He felt Jack hum happily against his stomach and moved his hands, pulling the young man down onto his knees so they were more on the same level. Jack placed a hand on either side of Ianto's face and kissed him slowly, gently, exploring his lover's mouth as if for the first time. Ianto found it intoxicating, and they soon forgot about the outside world, linked together at the mouth as they discovered more about each other, losing themselves in the innocence of the act.

They were roused hesitantly back into reality at the sound of the doorbell from the other room as the pizza delivery boy tried to get their attention. Jack pulled back and smiled at Ianto, kissing his nose gently before moving off to find his wallet and retrieve his food. Ianto sat for a moment, just thinking about the day so far and listened to the low mumbles of the pleasantries that Jack was exchanging with the boy at the door.

When Ianto heard him thanking the boy again, as a close for the conversation, he moved through to the kitchen area and flicked the kettle on. As his hand hovered over the switch, he noticed the slight tremble in his fingers. He stared at them for a while, trying to calm them, to stop the irrational behaviour, but nothing he could do stopped the shaking. He couldn't bring himself to move. All he could do was stare down at his fingers.

After what seemed like a colossal use of strength, he managed to clench his fist tightly, which seemed to break the spell he was under. He quickly made up time and produced two coffees, taking them over to the sofa slowly, making sure his hands didn't start to shake again. Setting them down, he sat back in his seat and curled up, hugging his knees to his chest and staring at the mug on the table in front of him. He didn't notice the look of concern on Jack's face. He didn't notice Jack at all. He couldn't stop thinking about the shaking, the lack on control. He felt thoroughly disturbed.

"Ianto…?" He felt Jack's hand on his back, moving round to his side and pulling him close, his other arm coming round to close him in, keep him safe. There were no words, nothing, that he could bring himself to say. The uselessness of trying bit deep into Ianto's mind and he started shaking again, having no control over his body at all. He tried to speak, he tried so hard to open his mouth and talk to Jack, but there was nothing. His muscles refused to obey him.

With a final, screaming effort, he managed a yell of frustration. He could hear Jack muttering softly in his ear and one of his hands gently stroking his hair and he uncurled himself, moving a hand up to Jack's face before he calmed himself down enough to pull away and sit back up independently. Jack let him go and waited for Ianto to the make the next move. He sat and watched as Ianto bent over and laced his fingers behind his head, eyes closed and taking deep breaths. After a few moments, he sat back up and smiled over at Jack briefly before pulling him into another slow and passionate kiss.

"Sorry… Sorry, Jack." He gently pushed Jack's hair out of his face and smiled. "I'm giving you a run for your money recently, aren't I?"

Jack chuckled and reached over to the open pizza box and pulled a slice free. "You certainly keep me on my toes." He patted Ianto's knee lightly before taking a mouthful of the pizza and sitting back, smiling as Ianto's hand took a hold of his and he curled up next to him, sighing heavily.

"Do you think they're all okay back at the hub?" Ianto was wondering out loud and Jack snorted in amusement, replying thickly through a mouthful of pizza.

"Ianto, you've been off for a day and a half, I'm sure they're fine." Despite his words, he fished his mobile out of his pocket and checked that he had now messages or missed calls. Ianto took the phone from his hand and put it carefully on the table before reaching up and kissing him for a long moment. "Did I mention you were on sick leave?"

"In that case, I better go to bed then." Ianto gave him a coy smile as he took a last mouthful of his coffee and pushed himself to his feet, moving back into the bedroom. Jack didn't even think about turning the offer down, knowing it would do more harm than good to say no. As soon as he stepped through the door, Ianto had captured his lips in a strong and passionate kiss, sliding his suspenders off his shoulders and starting on his shirt buttons.

* * *

It was closing in on eight in the evening. They'd spent the afternoon in bed… And on the bedroom floor, the window sill, the bathroom floor, the shower and back in the bed again. They both been so worn out that they were lying naked amongst the covers, drifting on the edges of consciousness. Jack heard a vague ringing from the other room and realised it was his mobile phone. Wearily, he pulled himself up, grabbed the sheet from the floor and hung it loosely around his hips, shuffling through to the living room to retrieve the phone and quickly go back. They'd warmed the bedroom up so much that he was shivering in the cool air of the living area.

He perched on the edge of the window sill and checked his phone. He checked his voicemail, and, seeing a new message, put it to his ear to listen to.

"_Hi Jack, it's Tosh. I was just calling to say we've had a quiet day here and we've all finished the reports from last night. I did the cover stories and falsified the police reports with Gwen and Owen finished the autopsy. All the paper work is on your desk for you to sign off on next time you're in… We all hope Ianto's okay, so give him our love, and we'll see you sometime soon hopefully."_

Jack smiled to himself, tossed the phone onto the bed and started to sing quietly under his breath, one of the songs off the Bruce Springsteen album Ianto liked so much. He didn't even realise he was doing it until Ianto cracked an eye open and chuckled lightly. Jack crept back onto the bed and slid onto his stomach next to Ianto, leaning his head down to kiss him gently, but finding himself pulled into a surprisingly emotional kiss. He got a brief and startling insight into just what was raging deep inside the young man. He pulled back, slightly breathless.

"Jack…" He merely smiled in reply, seeing that Ianto's eyes were half closed, guessing he was just saying his name because he could. He curled his arm around the young man's waist and pulled him closer, lying his head on Ianto's chest and sighing. He closed his eyes and ran his hands over Ianto's stomach as he felt the young man's fingers running through his hair again. He traced the slightly raised scars on his abdomen gently.

"You hungry?" Jack managed to get up enough strength to talk and felt Ianto laugh again, loving the sound of the vibrations running through his chest.

"I think I've eaten enough this afternoon…" Jack had to laugh at the innuendo and he soon found himself kissing Ianto's chest gently, tracing shapes with his tongue that made Ianto arch his back a little in pleasure. "Jack… Seriously, I don't think I have the energy to do anymore."

Jack just smiled to himself and carried on his worship of Ianto's torso. Ianto just wove his fingers deeper into Jack's hair, his breathing already increasing. Chuckling, Jack moved his hand down Ianto's body, caressing his stomach, his hips, his thighs… Teasing Ianto the entire time.

"Jack…" Ianto's voice hinted at the tension building in him and Jack started to kiss gently up his exposed neck and to his jaw line. "Jack, please…" The older man captured Ianto's lips gently and ran his tongue over Ianto's, hands moving gently up his stomach and around his waist. The young man kissed him back, silently thanking him for relenting on the almost torturous touch.

He pulled back gently and moved himself away from Ianto reluctantly, getting up and pulling the sheet back around his waist. Just as he was heading out of the bedroom, his mobile rang and he turned to see Ianto stretching across the bed to take the call.

"Hello?" Jack folded his arms and leaned a shoulder against the doorframe, watching Ianto sitting up in bed with a second sheet pulled over his legs and midriff.

"Oh, hi Tosh. Yeah. Okay, sure. He's right here, want to talk to him?" He looked over at Jack and smiled secretively. "Okay, right then, I'll tell him… Yes, I'm fine thanks, I just got a bit tired, that's all. Yeah, I'll be back tomorrow…" Jack glared a warning at him and Ianto hastily corrected himself, "…If Jack lets me that is. Okay, yeah, I'll see you soon, bye."

With that, he ended the call and threw the phone onto the bedside table and rubbed his eyes to fight off sleep.

"Owen's been looking at this alien you shot down earlier and he said there's been developments he didn't see before, says he needs you to go in and look at it." Ianto looked at him, a small smile on his face that made Jack groan and shake his head.

"No, Ianto… No, you can't come with me." Ianto's face dropped into the hopeful penitence that usually worked on Jack. He let out an exasperated growl and headed over to the pile of his discarded clothes and started to pull on his boxers and made the mistake of sitting down on the edge of the bed. He soon found Ianto's arms around his waist and his chin resting on his shoulder.

"Please, Jack? I'm better, see? I just needed to sleep." Jack shook his head resolutely and pulled himself from Ianto's arms after a brief moment of enjoyment. He turned around and knelt in front of him, taking a hold of his face and looking into his eyes.

"No, Ianto. You don't just need sleep. You need time, time away from the hub." He rested his forehead on Ianto's and sighed. "I can't take you with me, Ianto… I'm sorry. I need to go deal with this."

He felt Ianto's hands wrap around his wrists gently and almost, _almost_ told the young man to get dressed and come with him. Instead he closed his eyes and sighed, maintaining a grasp on his resolve.

"I'll be back as soon as I'm done." He wrenched himself away and had to avoid looking at Ianto, the pain revealing itself in his stormy blue eyes. He quickly pulled on the rest of his clothes and left the room, hurriedly buttoning his shirt and tucking it in, swinging his great coat on and pulling his boots on last of all. Ianto appeared at the bedroom door and stood watching him.

"Jack?" His voice was choked and sounded completely opposite to the confident lover he'd been that afternoon. Jack couldn't even look at him, tears threatening to blur his vision and judgement. "Jack, please… Don't leave me on my own again…"

The voice was barely more than a whisper, but Jack heard every syllable, feeling them like knives to his gut as he walked out of the flat.

* * *

When Jack had got to the hub, he was in an extremely dark mood. The other's picked up on it straight away and didn't mess about with him. He marched down to the autopsy bay and Owen de-briefed him, filling him in on exactly what they'd found with the alien. Jack had listened carefully, assessed the situation and ordered Owen to write up a new report and have it on his desk by the morning. He then went to his office and decided to start signing off on all his paper work, trying to keep the back log to a minimum as he suspected he'd need to spend much of his time for the next few days with Ianto.

Several hours later, after another complication with Owen and all the signatures, Jack was back in Ianto's car, speeding back to the flat. He took the stairs two at a time, as usual and strode down the corridor to Ianto's flat. Within seconds, he was opening the door and stepping inside, locking it behind him.

He saw Ianto, fully dressed and sitting on the couch with an open bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand, an ice cube being held to his nose with the other. He was slouched down, head tilted right back to rest at a right angle to his body, eyes closed. He knew without getting any closer that the young man was still conscious, and probably not drunk at all.

He kicked his boots off and went to kneel next to him, easing the bottle out of his hand, taking a mouthful and putting it on the table. That's when he noticed the trail of blood that dripped out of his nose and across his lips. The ice cube held to the bridge of his nose seemed to be stemming the flow and Jack looked at Ianto's closed eyes, his face complete devoid of emotion.

"Hi, Jack." His voice was a little hoarse, as if he'd been crying in the older man's absence, but it held no anger or resentment, just relief.

"Shit, Yan… Can't I leave you alone for a second?" He smiled and stroked Ianto's cheek gently, wiping away the water that had melted from the ice. "Stay there, I'll be right back."

He hurried off to the bathroom and quickly soaked a flannel in tepid water, ringing it out before heading back to Ianto, who hadn't moved a muscle. He gently started to wipe away the blood from Ianto's nose and lips, carefully washing the skin clean and warming up the cold flesh at the same time. He took the ice cube from Ianto's unresisting fingers and wrapped it in the cloth, throwing it into the sink in the kitchen to clean later.

He then returned his attention to Ianto, who's head was vertical to his body again, eyes finally opening and blinking at his surroundings. He was taken by surprise when he felt Jack's hand tilt his chin up and his lips kiss him in a way that expressed such remorse and longing that Ianto's breath caught for a moment before he poured himself into the touch. When Jack pulled back and sunk down on the sofa next to him, Ianto cut in before he could speak.

"Don't apologise… Just, don't." His voice was a little stern, as if he needed to get something off his mind. "I shouldn't have done that to you, I'm sorry. You were needed and I shouldn't have got in the way of that."

He took Jack's hand in his and looked at him sincerely. "I won't do it again. You should go back and finish the work properly."

"I got it done. I'm not going anywhere again tonight, I promise." Jack's voice was quiet, leaning in towards Ianto a little, just to get closer to him.

"If you need to go again, I'll wait for you…" The meaning of those words struck Jack on every level they were meant to. Not just leaving for work, but if the Doctor or John returned… That thought made the tears start to flow, made him love the young man just that little bit more.

"I'm not going anywhere." With those words, he allowed Ianto to pull him into another earth shattering kiss, tasting like a glorious mix of Ianto and whiskey, and guide him into the bedroom to pick up where they'd left off.


	29. Chapter 9: Cold Day in the Sun

One of my all time favourite Foo Fighters songs! I had these lyrics planne dout a long time ago, and I knew exactly how I was going to work my story around them. I think they fitted this section of the story perfectly, giving everyone a chance to see behind the events into Jack's head, what he was thinking, especially as it's been fairly Ianto orientated so far.

I really like this chapter, it makes me feel like the story is moving on, and that I'm closing up and getting really ready for the action in the next Part! Trust me, I spent today devising a plan of action for it, trying to come up with a good and strong sci-fi storyline for the next one or two sections. Hopefully you'll agree and enjoy them! I also intend to have more group based chapters, exploring all the other characters a bit more now that I've properly established Jack and Ianto's relationship.

Can't wait actually...! ENJOY AND REVIEW DAMNIT!

Don't forget about the naming competition, it's still open! It'll close when I post up Part 4: Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing, they belong to Russel T. Davies, JB adn GDL (who're all fabulous!)

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Chapter 9: Cold Day in the Sun

"**I wish I could take it away, And save you from yourself **

**You get so lost inside your head, Like no one else"**

- Cold Day in the Sun, Foo Fighters

* * *

A week later, Jack could see marked improvements in the young man's health. Granted, he wasn't eating properly yet, but he'd gotten better. The dramatic changes in moods and emotions had settled back down to almost normal, and Jack had been able to leave him watching a film a few times to catch up on paper work for an hour or so for the previous few days. He silently thanked the rift for having minimal activity over Ianto's break as he stood staring out of the living room window.

It was dark, almost midnight, and Jack was holding a glass of whiskey in one hand, his other in his pocket as he looked out over Cardiff. Ianto's flat was situated just outside of the city centre, but it had a good view of it.

Sighing, he pulled his hand from his pocket and rubbed the back of his head, taking a sip of whiskey and savouring the burning sensation running down his throat. His eyes flickered towards the open bedroom door and his shoulders slumped a little. Although Ianto's waking time was normalising, he still slept badly. Jack had been cradling the young man to sleep until about half an hour before, when he'd finally drifted into the deeper, less troubled sleep that came after the nightmares.

He didn't wake up as often as he had before, and on the occasions that he did, the fear died away a little faster. Jack had had to coax him into taking sleeping pills on a couple of nights, after particularly bad dreams, and he'd slept through to the next morning, thrashing a little at times, but generally in peace. Jack was pleased with the healing process and the rate at which Ianto was recovering, but he still felt a deep nagging inside him.

A couple of times earlier on in the week, Ianto's mood had spiked dramatically into an almost manic state of depression, but after disappearing to his bedroom for a while, he'd returned and apologised, his mood having levelled out. Jack didn't question it at the time, but when Ianto was safely sleeping, Jack had time to think.

Currently, he was recalling a time in his past. Back –or forwards- in the 51st century, he'd become a little dependant on a recreational drug that was yet to be created. He'd been on the downwards spiral when he was sent back in time and he ended up meeting the Doctor and Rose. His last hit had left him in a good state to fight at the time, but just before he died, he felt the irritating buzz of a headache biting into the back of his mind and the gnawing sensation in the pit of his stomach. His body was starting to panic at the lack of its drug. He remembered thinking that at least if he died, the discomfort, and the shakes that were quickly following, would die with him.

When he found himself dragged back into life by the possessed Rose, he was surprised to feel that his body no longer craved the substance. It appeared that when he came back, his body regenerated itself, back to the ideal health and status. He'd never touched the drug again, or any drug for that matter. He never wanted to be caught in the cycle he'd fallen into before the battle.

It was those sudden alterations in Ianto's moods and the memory of the blood pouring from Ianto's nose the week before that roused memories of his own reaction to the hits back when he'd been addicted. Of course, he wasn't about to ask the young man whether he was using drugs, that wouldn't sit well at all, but he needed to know what was going on with Ianto before he let him come back to work.

Sighing heavily again and stepping away from the window, he shuffled over to his bag and delved inside for the scanner. He quietly made his way into the bedroom and stood next to the sleeping man, switching the scanner on and holding it close to Ianto's chest. It wasn't picking up anything unusual, a little bit of alcohol from the drink he'd had before going to bed, but nothing illegal.

He switched the scanner off and took it back through to the living area, shoving it in his bag and tossing the bag back onto the table. He took up his glass from where he'd placed it on the window sill and drained it, gasping slightly as his mouth buzzed. He rubbed his eyes and took the glass over to the kitchen counter where he left it on the side, next to the bottle, before moving back to the bedroom. He quietly slipped his suspenders from his shoulders, removed his shirt and trousers and slipped into bed, lying behind Ianto and wrapping an arm around Ianto's waist as he felt the young man unconsciously nestled back into him.

Jack gently kissed Ianto's exposed neck before resting his head on the pillow and closing his eyes.

* * *

An hour or so later, the body in his arms stirred and brought him out of the light doze that had captured him. Ianto was moving in his sleep again, his breathing having increased already and a slight frown creasing his forehead. Jack groaned inwardly as he noticed the signs of Ianto's inner turmoil. The thrashing and crying would start soon, the muttering in protest of whatever haunted him.

Jack just tightened his grip around the young man's waist and gritted his teeth. He'd become more and more susceptible to crying when he witnessed Ianto in the state. It was a mixture of sympathy and anger at the helplessness he felt when he failed repeatedly to protect Ianto from what tormented him in his sleep. He whispered gently in the young man's ear and closed his eyes, resting his forehead on the back of Ianto's head, waiting for the night terror to pass. Ianto squirmed violently, twisting round in Jack's arms and gripping onto his t-shirt tightly, nuzzling his head under Jack's chin, desperately seeking comfort. He was muttering again, but Jack didn't catch any of what he was saying.

"Jack?!" He let out a sudden yell and Jack felt his body tense up. He knew then that Ianto had been forced awake and gently stroked his back with one hand and his hair with his other.

"It's okay, I'm right here… It was just another nightmare." He was relieved that the young man hadn't started crying, taking it as a good sign, a sign that he had improved, even if it wasn't much. They lay there for a while, Ianto still gripping tightly to the front of Jack's t-shirt, Jack still stroking his hair gently. Eventually, Jack felt Ianto's heartbeat calm and his breathing equalise, returning to a normal rhythm.

"It wasn't as bad tonight… It wasn't as bad. I managed to get away tonight." He sighed and shook his head a little. "I'm so tired, Jack. I just want this crap to go away."

His words were frank, revealing just how shut down he was getting from this constant lack of proper sleep.

"I know, Ianto. There's always the sleeping pills again." He felt Ianto pull away and look him in the eye.

"I'm not going to rely on drugs to sleep every night. I won't get over this at all if I don't sort it out properly." Jack nodded and kissed him gently on the forehead. He felt Ianto release his grip and move his arms around his waist, his legs linking around Jack's to keep him close. "It's like I can see the end now, I can see a way out… I just have to get there."

At those words, Jack made up his mind on the decision he'd been thinking about for the entire weekend. He'd noticed a real improvement in Ianto, and if he got the answer he wanted to his next question, he would let Ianto come back to work in the next couple of days.

"Ianto… I need to ask you something, something you may not like." He felt Ianto's arms tense a little and stroked the young man's hair gently again. "I need to know the complete truth."

He felt Ianto nod against his neck, where he'd placed his forehead, and took a deep breath, silently praying that Ianto would understand why he was asking.

"Okay… I'm just going to go right on and ask you…" One more deep breath, and he took the plunge. "Ianto, have you been taking any drugs, aside from the sleeping pills, over the last few weeks?"

He didn't feel any reaction at all from the young man. He was met with a stony silence that seemed to last for an age. Eventually, he felt Ianto pull himself from his arms and sit up, swinging his legs off the side of the bed so that he had his back to the older man. The young man sighed heavily and buried his head in his hands before reaching towards the bedside table and pulling the top draw open slowly. Jack held his breath and watched as Ianto's hand hovered for a moment above the contents before delving into the back of it and pulling an envelope out.

He slowly got to his feet and took Jack's hand with his free one, pulling him into the living area and flicking the lights on. Both men blinked a little as they made their way over to the kitchen area. Neither of them said anything as Ianto turned the kettle on, put the envelope down and pulled out two mugs, making them both a cup of coffee. He sat down on one side of the breakfast bar style counter and Jack took his cue to sit down opposite, watching Ianto's face closely as the young man studied the envelope between them.

"Open it." It was a simple, whispered command that Jack obeyed hesitantly, almost dreading what he'd find inside. He gingerly tipped the envelope's contents onto the counter and spread it out, taking in what he saw.

It was cocaine. He picked up the now almost empty bag and looked at it for a moment before scanning the other objects. Inside, he felt his heart sink. He'd been so concerned with saving Ianto from alien threats and other-worldly harm that he'd forgotten all about the dangers of earth and the things on offer that would help him to forget the horrors he experienced in Torchwood.

"How many times?" He slipped into 'Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood' mode and looked at Ianto. The young man slowly met his eyes, noting the change in the older man's demeanour, adopting his own guise of the administrator for Torchwood Cardiff.

"Eight. Four over the last couple of weeks, four just after Lisa and coming out of hospital, sir." Jack studied his face, trying to find any signs of a lie. He was relieved to see nothing but honesty in Ianto's eyes, but didn't let it show. "There's no excuse, I know. I did it to clear my head when nothing else worked. It stopped me from doing things I would regret, so I'm not sorry."

He kept Jack's stare furiously, his jaw set and tears starting to form in his eyes. Jack was aware of the young man's fists clenching in front of him and he sighed inwardly. He wasn't angry at Ianto, he couldn't be. He knew why he'd done it, and he respected the amount of self control he'd displayed. One final question before he decided on Ianto's future at the institute.

"Have you ever been high at work-" Jack kept his gaze locked, but was cut short as Ianto replied.

"No." The answer was short, sharp and to the point. To the exact point that Jack had needed to hear. After a few more moments, he nodded his head slowly and looked down at the small amount of white powder and the utensils. He got up and fetched the metal wastepaper basket from next to the TV and returned, placing it on the counter and standing next to it. He pulled out the bag inside which collected the rubbish and dropped the items into it, one by one, flinging the mirror down so it shattered.

Finally, he dropped the envelope in and reached for the bottle of whiskey that he'd left on the counter earlier. He poured some in over the contents of the bin and looked back at Ianto, who'd watched the whole process with a look of determination on his face.

"Get some matches." Ianto looked up and nodded before climbing off the stool and fetching the small box from one of the head height cupboards. When he returned, Jack pointed to the bin. "I want you to burn it all."

Ianto nodded and pulled a match out, striking it against the rough side of the box and watching it burn momentarily. Then he dropped it into the metal bin and watched at the flames as they quickly burnt up the alcohol and then started to devour the rest of the items, leaving the razor and the shards of mirror blackened and sooty. Once the fire died away and there was nothing but ash and smoke in the bin, Jack walked around and wrapped his arms around Ianto, holding him tightly.

After a moment or two, Ianto's arms came around Jack's waist and returned the embrace. They stood in silence, conveying a wide range of emotions through a simple touching of bodies. Finally though, Ianto pulled away and looked up at Jack, the tears that had formed in his eyes falling silently across his cheeks. He managed a small smile as he swallowed hard against the sobs that he could feel in his chest.

"Thank you." Jack just nodded and kissed his forehead again, granting him the clemency that Ianto needed, showing him that it was okay to have a weakness and that he was stronger than it by getting rid of it. Jack pulled him gently back through to the bedroom and lay him down, climbing behind him and covering them both up with the duvet. Ianto twisted in his arms again and snaked a hand up around the back of Jack's neck for comfort and Jack smiled ruefully. He wrapped his arms around Ianto's waist and held him close, letting the young man know he was safe. After a few long minutes, he felt Ianto's body relax as he fell asleep, but this time, he didn't follow. He just lay awake and watched over him.

Jack spent the rest of the night thinking. He trusted Ianto when he said he'd never done drugs at work, and he trusted that Ianto wouldn't turn to them again. He got the feeling that the drugs had been purchased after his discharge from hospital and used a little, then hidden and found again after all this time, using it purely because he had it there. He felt a little saddened to think that he'd needed cocaine to clear his head, but he knew that there was no other way for him to do it, not with the after effects of John's poison still working away at him.

To be honest, Jack was surprised that Ianto had improved this much over such a short space of time, but he didn't doubt that he was really getting better. Jack had soon convinced him that there was no way he was going to go back to the hub until he saw fit, but he hadn't let Ianto know that he'd been considering taking him in with him for the last couple of days.

The two of them had gone out a few times; to the park, shopping, just for a walk… Anything to get Ianto out and about, to keep his muscles working and to get him fresh air. The short trips had lifted his spirits and made him more accepting of being kept away from work. It seemed to have been calming him down and soothing the storm raging inside him. He'd even started to compulsively clean the flat again, hitting Jack round the head a few times when he tramped mud across the lino in the kitchen. Jack had soon got back in the habit of removing his boots on entering and putting them on the stand behind the door.

They'd spent the days watching Ianto's extensive DVD collection and the evenings enjoying each other in ways they never had before. The nights were bearable for them both, knowing that it would be better the next day, even if only a little. Slowly, the small steps forwards had added up to a noticeable difference.

Jack looked down at the sleeping man in his arms and noticed the pale scars on Ianto's wrists and realised that he must've been reliving the experience in his dreams, reliving all the horrifying moments in his past; seeing Jack fire bullets into Lisa, feeling the cannibal's knife against his throat, thinking Jack was dead, only to find out he wasn't and have him disappearing less than an hour later. All the times that he'd felt alone in the world, the crushing weight of his grief and fear on his shoulders.

Of course, Jack didn't know the full details, but he'd gathered enough of Ianto's mutterings in his sleep to piece together a general picture of his thoughts over those events. It made him feel guilty and possessive, determined not to inflict any more sadness to his lover.

He thought about all the times he'd seen Ianto sink into the recesses of his mind at work, when he made coffee or was hidden down in the archives, all alone. Jack's stomach twisted guiltily at the thought of Ianto seeing his memories repeated over and over, with no where to get away from them and no one to talk to. The time when he would have needed him most was the time when Jack thought of him as nothing more than a passing shag, the cute guy at work who he had fun with at the end of a hard day.

He felt that determination again now. He didn't know exactly what Ianto was thinking, and he didn't want to, some things should remain private and personal, but he knew that he'd listen, should Ianto ever need to talk to him, to get things off his chest. He'd listen.


	30. Chapter 10: Razor

I was quite intrigued at the fact that no one had looked ahead through the tracklist of the alubm and noticed the last song was called Razor, with the lyrics 'Day after day, cutting away...', eliciting screams on "OMG! YOU CAN'T LET IANTO HURT HIMSELF!!"

(I wouldn't have done that anyway, don't worry.. i read a fic that I thought was decent, but I got annoyed at Ianto being a self harmer.. I just sat there thinking 'God, I don't think Ianto's the type of person who'd need to resort to that')

But yes, you guys have a little while longer to enter in names for the competition, as I will be posting the winner in the opening to the next chapter! Remember, it's to win a fic that you've come up with the story for and I've just written up (I'm looking forward to the challenge! Now I can write mpreg, I think I can tackle just about anything)

Enjoy it guys! I hope I set up the storyline okay, tell me if you thinks it's shoddy or needs more clarification!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything below, though I wish I did. They belong to Russel T. Davies and the actors/actresses... hopefully I will get to manipulate them properly, but for now, I can write fan fics that make them do pretty things!

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Chapter 10: Razor

"**Wake up, it's time, We need to find a better place to hide **

**Make up your mind, I need to know, I need to know tonight"**

- Razor, Foo Fighters

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The next morning, Jack was pleasantly surprised to find that Ianto had slept through the rest of the night peacefully. That had given Jack time to clean up the mess in the kitchen and sort out the bin without any uncomfortable interactions with the Welshman. He'd also slept through most of the morning, waking up just before lunchtime and they'd sat in silence for a while, Ianto too embarrassed about the night before to think of anything to say. Jack, wanting to get right past the awkwardness, pushed a bowl of fruit salad and a cup of tea towards him before disappearing off to have a shower.

Ianto sat at the counter and looked for a moment at the food in front of him before tentatively picking a piece of pineapple up with his fingers and placing it in his mouth. Deciding that he was hungry, he picked up the fork next to the bowl and started to eat. When Jack came back through to the living room, dressed in a clean set of clothes and with a towel over his wet hair, he'd just finished the last of the fruit. He turned around on the stool and watched Jack as he dropped into the arm chair facing away from the kitchen are and sighed heavily. Jack was soon discovering that he was tired from lying awake all night.

Ianto carefully got up and made his way over to behind the chair, gently putting his hands on Jack's head and starting to rub his hair dry. Jack groaned a little in satisfaction and hummed happily, making Ianto smile as he continued rubbing Jack's hair. After a little while, Jack reached up and pulled Ianto's arms down around his neck and placed a kiss on one of the young man's palms.

With that on small gesture, all tension and awkwardness between them disappeared and Ianto tilted Jack's head back to kiss him gently. Jack pulled Ianto roughly round so that he toppled over into his lap and kissed him playfully, running his hands up Ianto's bare torso and nibbling his bottom lip, teasing him. It wasn't long before things got heated and a lot less innocent, Ianto backing away into the bedroom as Jack followed.

* * *

That night, Ianto slept peacefully for the entire time, and when the morning came around, and he was still fast asleep, Jack made his final decision concerning Ianto's sick leave.

When the clock flashed 08:14 at him, he gently shook Ianto's shoulder, causing the young man to groan loudly and turn away from his position against Jack's chest, burying his head into the pillow. Jack chuckled and rubbed Ianto's back gently, eliciting more groans of protest and finally provoked a real response.

"Sleeping…" Jack smiled and swung himself out of bed, shrugging and finding a clean set of clothes on the floor in the corner of the room, pulling boxers on and retreating to the edge of the bed to don the rest of the garments.

"Well, if you don't want to come into work, I understand." He was just pulling his trousers on when he felt himself being tackled to the floor and hugged tightly. "You may want to get ready, I'm leaving in thirty minutes."

Ianto kissed him hard on the side of his head and scrabbled back over the bed and into the bedroom, hastily showering and dressing to the standard he normally maintained for work. He was trying to pull Jack out of the flat when the older man pointed to the stools by the counter in the kitchen and made him sit down. Jack quickly made them some toast and watched Ianto pointedly until he had finished the slice he'd put in front of him.

"One thing, nothing that's happened here over the last couple of weeks goes anywhere unless you want it to." Ianto nodded solemnly and straightened his tie out before heading over to the door.

"Coming?" Jack just smiled and shook his head in disbelief. Only Ianto Jones, the most intelligent Welshman he'd ever had the fortune to meet, could be this eager to go back to work, especially work that almost certified pain and danger on a daily basis. He walked over and laced his fingers between Ianto's, pulling him out of the flat, giving him a chance to lock up, and leading him down to the car.

As Jack drove, Ianto started to fidget a little, apprehension setting in as he realised that the others, Owen in particular, had last seen him in a very bad state. He took a deep breath as Jack pulled up in the usual side street and looked over at him, smiling in support.

"Lets do this thang!" He put on a bad impression of Ali G which made Ianto laugh, relaxing enough to get out of the car and head off towards the Tourist Office. He stood in the doorway and sighed happily as he looked around his office for the first time in a while. Jack smiled and pushed him through the office and through the secret doorway, leading the way down into the hub. Ianto sighed inwardly when he noticed it was still empty, the others obviously having slipped into the habit of turning up later in the morning due to the lack of their Captain's presence.

Jack patted Ianto on the shoulder before quickly heading up to his office to drop off his bag and check his messages. Ianto happily went off to the kitchen area and flicked the coffee machine on, smiling as the familiar smell drifted up and the coffee collected in the jug. He soon felt Jack's arms around his waist again, as was usual for first thing in the morning on a work day, the older man searching subtly for his coffee.

Ianto managed to make him the early morning brew, struggling a little as Jack refused to loosen his grip on him. He managed to pacify Jack's protests against letting him go by handing him the mug of the long awaited coffee, and Ianto laughed as he shuffled off to his office.

He then turned to look around the hub and sighed heavily at the mess the team had left it in. He pulled a black bin liner from under the sink and went round the workstations, collecting the empty Chinese and pizza containers, the sweet wrappers and the screwed up papers the had been thrown at the bin and missed. He dumped the now full bin liner in the corner of the kitchen area and went back to collect the empty mugs and plates from the desks.

He'd just finished piling the dishes into the dishwasher when he heard people coming through the passage way and made his way over to the huge cog door. When it rolled back, the first person to see him was Owen who ran at him and grabbed him in a headlock.

"If you ever leave and subject me to either Tosh's or Gwen's coffee again, Tea-boy, I will personally see to it that you're locked in a cell next to Janet each night!" Ianto knew it was a sign of affection, and Owen's own, rather twisted, way of welcoming him back, but he was still glad when Gwen hit him in the arm and he released him from his grip. Tosh pulled him into a tight hug then and Gwen beamed at him, ignoring the moody glare Owen was shooting at her.

"Who's up for coffee then?" Tosh gave him a final squeeze and pushed him in the direction of the kitchen area, a smile on his face as walked away from them all. He looked down to see Jack leaning on the doorframe of his office and he winked up at him, a sly grin on his face.

* * *

The team were gathered in the board room, Owen standing up by the monitor and the others sitting around the table. Ianto slipped in last of all with a tray filled with coffee mugs, quickly handing them out and sliding into the seat next to Jack, looking up at Owen, who nodded and cleared his throat.

"Last week, we chased this guy across the rooftops of the docks and Jack shot him three times in the chest, once in the arm and once in the head." Owen brought up the picture of the body on one half of the screen. "I studied the body that night, drew up the autopsy report and handed it in." He looked to Jack who nodded in agreement.

"Well, the next day, I went to put the body into storage, but I noticed different readings of the air composition for the autopsy bay," They all knew that some alien bodies tended to give off toxic fumes as a way to get vengeance on the thing that had killed them. Owen was particularly careful about the air composition for different reasons. He never wanted to experience the alien sex gas again. "The body was emitting something I couldn't understand, so I did more scans and tests on the body."

He opened up a window that showed his results and promptly started to decipher them for the team. "In his blood, I found a new compound, one I'd never seen before. After doing more tests on it, I found it was a virus that had been activated on the death of the host." He looked around to make sure everyone was keeping up. "The virus isn't a biological organism, it's a computer program running in infinitesimally small robotic structures in the blood. The worst thing is that it's releasing a toxin into the blood stream similar to nitro-glycerine. In essence, we have a huge stick of dynamite sitting in the autopsy bay, with the potential to be remote controlled…"

"Meaning that he was a plant set loose in the docks for you to shoot down and bring back here." They were all surprised that Ianto had been the first one to draw his musings into a sentence, though Jack had been thinking along the same lines.

"We have a bigger problem to overcome then." Jack leaned forwards, elbows on the table and looking at Owen. "Is there any way you can start to neutralise the body?"

Owen turned and studied the readings for a moment before sighing and rubbing his chin. "I think, with enough work, I could, but this guy's getting more volatile by the hour. By the time I come up with a way to do it, it may be too dangerous to go anywhere near him."

Jack nodded and turned to Tosh then. "Can you track the signal back to a location, perhaps even an origin?" Tosh nodded. "We'll go from there then. Gwen, Ianto, we'll go over the case notes in my office and see whether we can find any clues to where this guy came from."

Jack stood up then and gave the unspoken signal for them to go and start working on their tasks. He gestured for Ianto and Gwen to follow him and strolled out of the room, making his way through the hub to his office and dropping into his desk chair.

"Okay guys, what do we know about this guy?" He looked at Gwen, who glanced at Ianto before speaking. Ianto was standing over by the door, looking intently at the woman, obviously trying to pick up on what had happened as quickly as possible.

"We got the reports of someone causing disturbances down in an old warehouse, and we were flagged by the police. They'd investigated briefly, heard noises that didn't seem to be human or animal, so they sent us a message and we went to check it out." Gwen settled back in the visitor's chair across the desk from Jack. "As soon as we got there, he ran, but it was like he was waiting for us, so I reckon Ianto's right. I think he was a plant."

Jack was nodding in thought, trying to think about what this could mean for both Torchwood and Cardiff.

"Are we sure that it was a real police report?" The suggestion came from Ianto. The other two looked up at him, and he continued. "I'm just throwing this in, but could it have been a deliberate ploy to get you to pick him up? I mean, if he was planted, they must've wanted to make completely sure that he got inside Torchwood."

"Okay, Gwen, could you call up one of your old contacts to verify that it was a legitimate flag up? I'm not sure whether someone could hack into the line we have with the police, but it's worth double checking." Gwen nodded and got up, leaving the room with a smile at Ianto. He smiled back and blushed a little when Jack nodded his approval.

"Good to see your brain hasn't melted over the last couple of weeks. There were a few moments when you got so incoherent that I was worried about permanent damage." Ianto shot him a sideways look and smiled.

"Sir, I think you were rather incoherent yourself at times." Jack chuckled as Ianto turned to the hub and made his way around to take new orders for coffee.

* * *

Jack spent the day catching up on his paperwork and checking in with the members on his team, keeping himself updated in case any of them came up with something to push the investigation ahead. Gwen had reported back that the flag-up had been legitimate and gotten the report files from the police database, spending the rest of the day working through them and cross referencing the event to similar hunts from across the last five years. All her work came to the conclusion that if the alien Jack had shot down was indeed a plant, it was from a race they'd never seen before.

Jack had then gone into the autopsy bay and looked over the rail, shuddering a little at the odd alien corpse. At first sight, it was humanoid, but then you saw the faint sheen to his skin, and the gills that rippled along his neck. If you'd seen him running along the rooftops, you would've noticed the fin-like, translucent skin that billowed from the under side of its lower arms. The eyes were normally covered by three eyelids, but at the moment, in the cold traps of death, the two humanoid eyelids lay open and the third lay across, almost covering the milky eyeballs beneath. All in all, it gave Jack the creeps.

Owen hadn't been able to work out a way to neutralise the chemical being created in the body's veins, despite trying all the listed ways of treating the explosive compounds found on earth. He'd given up when Jack came in to check up on him at the end of the day, apologising profusely. Jack had told him it was fine and made sure he dragged Tosh away from her computer when he left. She was the only one who'd made any headway.

Tosh had managed to track the signal being emitted through the circuits of the tiny robotics. It had taken her all afternoon, but she'd managed to isolate the frequency and had quickly come up with a computer program to track the mutations within the body for Owen. He smiled as Owen went up behind her, grabbed the back of her cardigan and pulled her form the computer, catching up the bag resting on the back of her chair and forcing her to walk out of the hub, much to her consternation and disapproval.

Sighing, Jack made his way back into his office and dropped into his desk chair, rubbing his eyes. He looked up when he heard Ianto walking towards the room, watching as he settled against the doorframe with a small smile on his face.

"I bet you wish you'd stayed at home again today." He smiled ruefully at the young man who simply shook his head and walked round behind him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and resting his chin on his head. "Let me just grab some clean clothes, and we can make a move."

Ianto unwound himself and let Jack get up, mustering up the conviction to speak again, managing it as Jack started riffling through his clothes in the sleep space below. Ianto waited for him to come back into the office before speaking.

"Jack?" Ianto swallowed hard and Jack looked over. "I was thinking, seeing as you spend so much time there and all, I was thinking that maybe you could, you know, move some stuff in properly…"

He trailed off, looking desperately to Jack for some kind of understanding, but the American just grinned at him, a glint of mockery in his eyes. That gave Ianto the determination to finish what he'd started, so he cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter.

"Do you want to move in with me, Jack? I mean you don't have to decide now, it's just on the table." It came out a little hurried, but at least it came out in more or less the fashion Ianto had intended. Jack just hoisted himself out of the sleep space and pulled Ianto up from the desk where he was perching and into his arms.

"I would love to." Ianto grinned happily and kissed him gently, pleased when Jack leaned in and started teasing him with his tongue. They remained locked into their embrace, kissing, for a long time as there were no distractions to draw them away from each other. Eventually though, Ianto felt the need to surface for air and pulled himself away from Jack gently, looking intently into his eyes.

"Do you ever regret anything, Jack?" Ianto's voice was barely audible, but Jack just smiled, keeping his gaze locked on his lover's.

"No… I've made a lot of mistakes in my past, but if I regretted them, I wouldn't have learned and moved on." He leaned in and kissed Ianto gently again. "I wouldn't be standing here today if I hadn't made some of those mistakes."

Ianto smiled and held the gaze a little longer before tugging on Jack's hand gently and pulling him from the hub, heading back home. They both knew that there'd be more trouble with this mysterious dead body, but right now, they wanted nothing more than to forget the day and lose themselves in each other. They'd gotten extremely good at it.


	31. Part 4 :: Chapter 1: Discovery

YAY! It's action time people! It took a bit of work to set up the storyline in my head to the point where I could make it last long enough and keep it decent, so sorry for the delay on the story... Hopefully it'll be worth it though.

Thanks again to everyone who's been crazy faithful to the fic, and everyone who's reviewed, you're the reason I write this up! I love producing stuff that people like to much, so thanks fro letting me know! It gives me a good distraction when I'm avoiding school work and waiting for new Torchwood on TV... Recently been watching a load of GDL stuff (bless him, he's so cute!). I alsmo cried when I found out he was at an MCM expo in Feb 2007 (which one of my friends went to) in Telford (pretty near to me)... The worst part is that I didn't even like Torchwood then! All I can say is that hopefully he'll do one again, and I'll get to meet him/see him!

Naming Competition

I couldn't choose from these three, so **all of the people below get their choice of plots written up by me**! Please let me know what you want written (Jack and Ianto only.. I already filled my quota of other things by hinting at Jack/Gwen in a fic befor eit evolved into Jack/Ianto - i.e. my babies). So yes, below are my favourite names! I'm going to hold a vote for which name should be the overall winner!

**Lyra the Badwolf** with **'Jaffa Cake'**

**enzymion** with **'Russell'**

**Ithilian** with **'Linx'**

I order you to go over to my profile and vote for your choice of nickname!

With that fun over, onwards with the story! Please read, review and give any suggestions that you might have. ENJOY!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters (they bleong to Russel T. Davies, John Barrowman and Gareth David-Lloyd), but I love playing with them and I promise to return them.

* * *

**And So It Begins… Again: Part 4**

_Chapter 1: Discovery_

Ianto woke with a start at about four in the morning when he heard his house phone ring loudly. He scrabbled at the bedside table where one of the phones was positioned and managed to catch it as it started to fall to the ground, clumsily holding it to his ear as he hit the 'answer call' button.

"Hello?" It was Tosh. The police had flagged up an emergency to the hub and she'd gotten the automated message from her computer to her mobile. There had been a suspicious murder and he and Jack had to get to the scene as soon as possible. She said that the rest of them would meet them at the scene and promptly sent directions to his mobile, finishing the call.

Ianto shook Jack awake, who'd miraculously slept through the phone ringing, and hurriedly got dressed in his usual suit and tie apparel for work. He practically pulled Jack out of bed and threw clothes at him as he explained the situation. Roughly ten minutes later, they were leaving the flat and hurrying down to the car, where Ianto insisted on driving to the scene.

They pulled up next to the cold, damp alleyway that the police had cordoned off, Jack instantly switching into Captain mode and walking briskly up to the barrier, let in straight away. He turned to find Gwen, Owen and Tosh standing nervously waiting for him. They were all shivering and Jack silently noted that there had been a severe drop in the temperature from when he'd left the car.

He glanced at the team again before strolling down to the end of the alley to take a look at the body. He wasn't surprised to see it was a prostitute, but he was surprised to find he had to pull his coat around him a little tighter. The temperature had dropped again, and it must've been close to, if not past, freezing. He took a good look at the body.

There were, at first glance, several things missing from it. First, the eyes had been ripped from the sockets, then the tongue, obvious as the mouth lay partly open, and finally, there was the gaping wound in the chest, about the size of a fist. Jack peered over and confirmed his guess at the heart being ripped out. However, there was no blood lying around, no blood at all. Instead, the effected areas had been frozen. The eyelashes were coated with delicate frost, the skin around tinged blue and the veins beneath dark and vivid against the skin. The same happened around the mouth, frost on the lips, and around the heart.

Jack briefly took in the almost see-through vest, the short denim mini-skirt and the knee high leather boots. He shook his head, whether out of disgust or sympathy he didn't know. Standing up, he signalled for the others to come closer.

"Owen, we're going to need a body bag." The medic nodded and jogged back to the SUV. Jack knelt back down and hovered a hand over the forehead of the body. The cold gripped at him fiercely. It all seemed to be radiating form the corpse. "By careful, you're gonna get a nasty bite out of the cold… Don't take too long or it might get too painful."

Owen gave him a withering look before setting about carefully bagging up the body. Jack ordered the shivering Tosh to take complete scans of the area and told Gwen to go get the police statement. Once the women went to complete their tasks, Jack turned his attention to Ianto.

"When we get back to the hub, I want you to do a complete cross reference on what happened, see whether it's happened before… I don't recognise this at all, but it reeks of alien activity." Ianto nodded and moved to help a struggling Owen with the body.

* * *

Half an hour later, a grumbling Owen was completing the autopsy on the fast thawing body. His exasperated yells and disgusted comments were drifting up into the main area of the hub, making everyone smile, realising they had better tasks that the medic did.

"Jack, the readings from the site were practically off the chart. It's something I've not seen before.. but it's similar to something that was logged in fifty years ago." Jack walked over to Tosh's station and looked at the screens where she pulled up a report. "I checked back through the archives and found another similar entry fifty years before that… The entries that match up are all fifty years apart until the beginning of all of our records."

"Looks like we have some regulars." Jack nodded at Tosh as a well done and made his way down to the archives to find Ianto and see whether his investigations had found something similar. As he entered the room Ianto was hiding in, he took a moment of enjoyment to take in the way he looked with his jacket tossed casually over the back of a chair and his dark red shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows, deep in thought.

"I should really put a ban on letting you come to work looking so damn attractive." He couldn't resist slinking up behind Ianto and wrapping his arms around the man's waist from behind, biting the soft skin of his neck gently. Ianto didn't even jump, just chuckled .

"What would you suggest I wear then? T-shirt and jeans?" Ianto raised his eyebrows and Jack made a noise against his neck.

"Okay, point taken… I can't even say no clothes, that'd be far more of a temptation." Jack sighed happily and released Ianto, walking around to face him, hands in pockets. "So, found anything interesting?"

"Well, I've found reports of bodies missing eyes, hearts and tongues going back at fifty year intervals. No-one was ever caught, but the attacks stopped after roughly three weeks each time," Jack nodded, maybe three weeks wasn't so bad. "But between fifty and a hundred bodies were found in each space of time. The number of deaths is higher the further back you go. The highest is six hundred and seventy nine from 1758."

"Are there any sightings recorded at all?" Jack's stomach twisted. What if there were already more dead bodies out there?

"Someone said they saw a human shaped figure with silver hair and pale skin running from the scene, but this was recorded in 1808, and no one could say for sure what was happening." Ianto looked curiously at Jack. "How come you don't remember the 1958 incident? You were working for Torchwood by then, surely…"

Jack gave him a coy smile and a sideways look. "1958, I should have known… That was one of the years where I disappeared. There was a particularly violent member of the team who shot first and asked questions later. Lots of innocent and confused aliens got shot through the head without a second thought… I couldn't stomach being around her, so I went away for a while, away to some remote part of Europe. I didn't return until I found out she'd died in the course of action."

Ianto nodded and turned back to the file in his hands. "There's a sighting in this record of a man with an extremely long scarf, a brown jacket and curly hair a few times, near where the bodies were found in 1958. In 1908 there was a man dressed in white and cream clothes… From the picture here, it looks like he's dressed in cricket whites."

Jack shook his head a little, not recognising the descriptions at all. Ianto shuffled through the files some more, going back to the 1808 file.

"From here back, there were no sightings of people at all, apart from the account with that one sighting of the silver haired person running from the scene." Ianto shook his head and chewed the inside of his cheek as he watched Jack think, eyes to floor. "I'll keep looking through these files, cross reference them with each other and then with today's things."

"Okay, keep your ear piece in though… I have a feeling we're going to get called out again sometime soon." Ianto nodded and Jack smiled leaning in to kiss him briefly on the cheek before leaving the room and returning back up to the hub. His team were extremely efficient, which gave him some time to do digging of his own.

* * *

Jack had quickly hit a dead end in his research into the two men who'd been present in the two different files, and he didn't have the will power to carry on. He sat in his office and looked around, spinning on his chair a few times before jumping up and grabbing his coat.

He hopped onto the invisible elevator and ascended through the pavement humming to himself. He was having cravings for doughnuts from the local bakery, and as he didn't have anything better to do, he was going to go satisfy them. He bought enough for everyone and then a few spare, finding himself walking back to the perception filter faster than he'd expected. The fresh air had done him good and he was more focussed on his return.

His first stop was his office, where he deposited his coat in a heap on his chair. Then he pulled out a doughnut as he headed to the kitchen area and, as if he was psychic, Ianto appeared behind him and flicked the coffee machine on, giving Jack a warning look to say: 'If you even dare touch it, I will deprive you of so much for the next few days…'

Jack simply perched on the edge of the counter and took a small bite of the doughnut in his hand, taking some of the cake as well as the raspberry filling. Ianto smiled as Jack inspected the food and opened his mouth, pushing the complete thing into his mouth and chewing it slowly. When he looked around, cheeks bulging, Ianto just snorted, unable to keep the laughter back. Jack looked extremely comical.

Jack was still struggling to chew up the doughnut when Ianto handed him his coffee. After a few more laborious jaw movements, he took a swig of the coffee and managed to swallow the food in his mouth, smiling at Ianto in thanks.

Ianto just rolled his eyes and moved off with his tray of coffee cups for the others. Jack followed behind him with the bag of doughnuts and slumped down onto the sofa behind Tosh's station, tossing the bag onto the coffee table and sitting back to enjoy his coffee.

"Do you ever do any work, Jack?" Owen's sarcastic tones sounded and Jack looked up, grinning as he took a bite of a second doughnut. Owen looked at him in disgust as he retrieved a cake for himself and dropped onto the other side of the sofa, groaning a little. "That thing has completely defrosted.. there's water and blood everywhere, it's gross."

"Surely you've dealt with worse?" Tosh was delving in the bag for her doughnut and looked at Owen earnestly. "I mean, at least with this one it's a human, not a creepy thing from Mars."

"We've never apprehended a Martian, you realise… They're actually a very polite species, very hospitable, so be careful what you say." Owen snorted and exchanged glances with Tosh as Jack looked over to Ianto and Gwen, who were making their way to the communal gathering.

"Whatever you say Jack…Why can't we ever have some nice, friendly aliens come here? Why is it always the human-slaughtering, three-eyed monsters?" Owen ripped his doughnut in half and sulked to himself, Gwen laughing at him.

"What would be the fun in that?" She smiled and took the bag Jack was offering her, nodding in thanks and perching on the edge of Tosh's desk. Jack looked up at Ianto and gave him a little smile, pleased to see the secretive smile returned by the Welshman. It was enough to make Jack's day and he smiled to himself as he took another mouthful of his coffee.

"Anyone made any more progress yet?" Ianto was looking around, ignoring Owen's look of disgust, turning to Tosh instead, who nodded.

"I've managed to make more links between the cases in our archives and what happened today, so I'm pretty sure we're dealing with the same race." Jack nodded and the talk turned to less important things, to home life and trivial squabbles between Owen and Gwen that the others helped to sort out.

They continued in this fashion for another twenty minutes or so before Tosh's computer started blaring at them. The police when messaging through with reports of more suspicious deaths. Jack sighed heavily and went to his office to retrieve his coat and Webley, ordering Gwen and Owen to make sure the SUV was prepped and ready. Within ten minutes of the alert, the team were piling into the SUV, armed and extremely annoyed with whatever species was on its little killing spree.

Jack was the first out of the SUV when they arrived on the scene. It was a little building, in the back streets of downtown Cardiff, and from the looks of the inside layout, it was a brothel. Jack was ready to find the mutilated bodies of a couple of prostitutes, but was extremely surprised to find that there was a total of five dead bodies; punters and what seemed to be the manager, as well as the whores.

The temperature was achingly cold again, like standing in a freezer, to the point where Ianto and Tosh's teeth were chattering and Gwen was rubbing her arms vigorously to keep her body heat in. Owen surveyed the scene, automatically switching into Medic mode.

"Jack, we can't get these all back in one go, they won't fit into the back of the SUV for start." Owen leaned down, pulled a pair of gloves on and gently touched the side of the face nearest to him, examining a couple of scratches on the cheek. "We could take them in two goes; in the boot and in the back seats."

Jack nodded and he and Ianto helped Owen get the bodies into black bags, ordering Tosh and Gwen to repeat their roles from the previous murder scene. It took a little longer than before as Owen and Ianto had had to go from the scene to the hub twice, once with three of the bodies, once with the last two and the other members.

Owen promptly ran to the autopsy bay where he'd erected a second, temporary, gurney with one of the dead prostitutes on it. Jack moved to lean on the barrier at the top of the stairs, Ianto following behind him, to watch Owen work. He had a new interest in the bodies and was working almost manically.

"What've you found, Owen?" The medic looked up at Jack and pointed to the scratches on the newest body.

"Those scratches on the cheek, they were made after the death, after it'd been frozen." He hurriedly looked up the pictures of the other four bodies lying down in the vaults. He scanned them quickly and made a noise of triumph. "And the same mark is on each of the other bodies; two scratches crossing over in an 'X' shape."

"Like a brand?" Ianto's brow was furrowed at this new revelation.

"Exactly." He turned back to the body that they'd found in the alley way and checked the face more carefully, finally making another noise of triumph and looking up at the two men. "This one has a mark as well, I'd passed it off as damage during the fall, or a struggle or something… Look, three parallel lines scratched into the left cheek, just like the others. A different symbol but in the same place."

"But why would they mark them differently?" Jack was frowning at Owen, determined not to look at the two bodies.

"Who knows? Maybe they're keeping a tally of the bodies, and they're marking their kills… I dunno." Owen pulled his rubber gloves off and made his way up the stairs. "I'm going to need to look at the case files on the previous incidents, see if the bodies have any marks on them."


	32. Chapter 2: Jealousy

I realise that this update is a HELL of a long time coming, so I want to apologise for that now. Hopefully you're all still interested in it and are willing to keep reading! I really do urge you to, because the other day, I sat down and started to write u a proper plan for the rest of the 13 parts. Let me tell you now, part 10, 11 and 12 are stonkers in my opinion!! I need to work a little on 13, and the rest are pretty much free for meddling until I write them, but 10, 11 and 12? Phwoar is all I'll say now!

Never ending thanks to all my regular reviewers and everyone else who's been reading and inputting over the past 31 chapters (it's been a long haul to get back into the frame of mind to write this, but I'm SO glad I did!)

There's a bit of dialogue (the 'Penny for your thoughts?' and 'Cheapskate' lines) which I took from the Torchwood book 'Trace Memories' and it's originally between Gwen and Ianto, but if elt it more fitting to be between Jack and Ianto. So just keep in mind that I didn't come up with them or anything, I just loved the lines!

Okay, I'll shut up and let you all get down to reading!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters, they all belongs to Russel T. Davies. I do own the storyline, but it's not fantastic, so maybe I should hush up about that!

* * *

_Chapter 2: Jealousy_

The three men hurried down to the morgue, Owen pulling a clipboard from a bracket on the wall and flicking through the pages, scouting for the names he'd just pulled from the computer. He ran his finger down the list of small print and tapped it excitedly.

"Here, vault 20981." He grinned manically at Jack and Ianto before jogging off to the other end of the vault, to a section that had long since been filled up. Jack raised his eyebrows and Ianto nudged him in the ribs before following Owen, taking a leisurely stroll down to the medic and his cadaver.

"This is one of the first recorded bodies." He was pulling the slide out container from the hatch, hastily flicking down the supports and unzipping the bag, pointing triumphantly at the corpse's cheek. There, in plain sight, was a series of scratches that showed no sign of healing or bleeding at all. Owen zipped the corpse back up and shoved the canister back into the hatch, locking it behind him.

He quickly pulled out a pen and scribbled a series of names into two separate lists, handing one to each of the men and pointing to the clipboards on the brackets nearest them.

"You two find those bodies on the lists and check them for marks on the cheeks." Jack nodded and fetched the second two clipboards, handing one to Ianto and giving him a meaningful look. They left Owen to sketch the marks they'd found so far on a piece of paper. "Oh, Guys? Make a note of how many of each you get, and any new marks you find, jot down."

They nodded and set about their tasks, Ianto significantly faster than Jack at locating the vaults. He was soon half way through his list of about 20 names, having found two new signs and tallied the amount of marks down. He noticed Jack trudging towards him from the opposite end of the room from Owen's first vault. He looked thoroughly miserable.

"What's wrong, sir?" Jack looked up and shook his head, pulling a face.

"I hate coming down here. It smells like formaldehyde and death." He wrinkled his nose and tossed his clipboard into the bracket on the wall. "I gave up on my list a while back. It's obvious now that we're looking for something that marks its kills, territorial so to speak."

"Yeah… The question is, why do they do it?" Ianto closed the hatch door and locked it, leaning his back against it and sighing heavily. "And why do they come every fifty years to do so?"

Jack shrugged and leaned against the hatches as well, shoulder to shoulder with the young man. He felt for Ianto's hand and linked their fingers together, giving it a comforting squeeze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ianto smile to himself, but was rudely disturbed when Owen cleared his throat loudly from a few metres away as he approached.

"Right, we need to go talk to the others." He had a sombre look on his face, and Jack noticed the piece of paper he had clutched in his hand. It was old a yellowing, tattered around the edges and crumpled, as if it had been held for a long time. He handed it to Jack for safekeeping, and his folded it neatly, putting it in his pocket before leading the way up to the boardroom, pulling Ianto behind him as he failed to let go of the young man's hand.

* * *

The team settled themselves around the table for Owen and Jack to give them a run down on what the three men had just discovered down in the vaults. It didn't take long for Gwen and Tosh to catch on to what was happening.

"This time around, they seem to be targeting hookers, and anyone who may be in close proximity to them." Owen stood with his arms crossed and a slight frown on his face. "Ideally, we need to catch one of these things at some point down the road to find out who they are, what they want with human eyes, tongues and hearts and why they mark the bodies."

"How're we going to do that?" Tosh looked from Jack to Owen, both men with dark expressions on their faces.

"We need to get up close to the situation… Surveillance or undercover." Jack's mouth was pulled into a grimace as he stared at the floor. He hated having to ask this of his team.

"Well then, I'm guessing me or Tosh then." Gwen's voice sounded and Owen looked sharply at her. "I don't mind doing it, I know how to keep a guy off me if I need to."

Jack snorted at that. Gwen looked at him and glared a little, wondering what that snort had meant. Jack ignored her and looked pointedly at Ianto, who was looking at Gwen's annoyed expression in confusion. Tosh's eyes flicked onto him, quickly followed by Owen's and Gwen's.

"Are you serious?" Gwen looked back at Jack sceptically and the American just looked coolly back at her. Ianto just sank a little further into his seat, wishing he could fall straight through the floor. Surely Jack didn't want him to go undercover?

"Perfectly." Jack looked back at Ianto and the young man almost slid off his chair in his attempt to get away from the others' stares. "Ianto knows this city inside out, better than any of the rest of us. It's him that'll be able to find the darkest, dankest corners of Cardiff, where the killers seem to be attacking."

Ianto looked up at Jack, concerned. He seriously hoped that Jack was thinking surveillance over undercover. He didn't want to pose as a male prostitute, and the thought of buying services made his stomach churn. Jack looked back at him hard, an expression in his eyes that only Ianto could see. The young man nodded and looked at the table, wishing that the others would look somewhere else.

Tosh finally decided that the awkward silence which had descended upon them had gone far enough. Gwen's lips were pursed dangerously, Ianto's face was a shade too pink and Jack and Owen were exchanging meaningful glances with each other. She cleared her throat and stood up, looking over at Owen and Jack before heading to the door.

"I'll go make a start on devices for this little trip then." Ianto quickly stood up and followed her, feeling decidedly edgy beneath Gwen's annoyed look. As he moved to stand behind Tosh's desk, he felt a hand grip onto his arm and gently tug him away, towards Owen's desk. Before he had a chance to look around, a second hand took hold of his other arm. The grip was stronger and Ianto realised that it was Jack.

He looked over his right shoulder to see who the owner of the first hand was and he saw Gwen, staring defiantly at Jack, who, in turn, was glaring at the woman, daring her to disobey a direct order. Ianto finally had enough of the tension and twisted free of both hands, turning the tables and taking hold of Jack's arm to pull him away into the office and closed the door firmly.

"Jack, ignore her." He saw Jack staring sullenly at the wall, his teeth gritted. Ianto sighed and rolled his eyes, turning to open the door again when Jack turned round to look at him.

"You don't mind being the one to come on the trip do you?" Ianto turned around and smiled.

"Not at all, sir. You said it yourself, I know Cardiff better than any of you." His expression dropped for a moment and his tone got a lot more serious. "Just as long as you don't expect me to try and buy one… You would never be forgiven for that."

Jack laughed at that and all the tension in his face left as he stepped closer to the young man and pulled him into an embrace, kissing his neck gently.

"Don't worry, I'm a very territorial person. I wouldn't let you go anywhere near them." Ianto snorted and rolled his eyes again at that, pulling himself free from Jack's arms and heading out of the door.

"Coffee, sir?" He added it on an off chance, but knew the answer before he'd finished asking the question. He got his reply in the form of a grin splitting Jack's face in two. Ianto chuckled to himself and made his way through the hub, repeating his offer as he went.

When he was settled over in the kitchen area with the coffee machine bubbling behind him, he looked up and noticed Gwen whispering to Owen by the man's workstation. She looked up and her eyes met Ianto's, making the young man's insides wash with a strange feeling. He watched as the woman shifted her position so her back was to him and continued whispering to Owen. The medic was sitting back and looking at her sceptically, his gaze darting over to the Welshman when he thought the young man's back was turned. Owen snorted a few times at whatever Gwen was saying and Ianto turned away as the machine behind him clicked and stopped bubbling.

He quickly made the coffees and put them on a tray, carrying them over to the workstations and handing them out. When Gwen gave him a dazzling smile, he simply smiled back and headed off to deliver Jack's coffee, feeling more than a little bemused.

"Penny for your thoughts." Ianto looked up at Jack, who was sitting at his desk, feet propped up on the surface and a file open across his legs.

"Cheapskate." Ianto smiled and put the mug down on the desk, pushing Jack's feet so they slipped back just a little and went crashing to the floor, Jack's torso being sprung upright suddenly, causing him to almost lose grip on the file. He shot an accusing look at Ianto before scooping up the coffee mug and cradling it in his hands. Ianto stood awkwardly by the door and wondered what he should do. He turned to leave the room again and Jack cleared his throat.

"Where do you think you're going?" He sounded genuinely surprised, and Ianto couldn't help but smile as he turned round. He leaned back on the door and looked at Jack calmly as the older man grinned and had a mouthful of his coffee. "So, what's eating you?"

Ianto noted the serious expression that had captured Jack's features and shook his head. "I was just thinking, that's all." Jack just rolled his eyes.

"I guessed that much! What were you thinking _about_?" Ianto just smiled again and looked at the floor, shuffling his feet a little. He had to think carefully about what Jack would accept as a good thing to think about, whilst avoiding another confrontation with Gwen. He didn't understand why she was so annoyed about the mission. Was he invading on her Police territory? Or was it just that she wanted to spend more time with Jack? His heart sunk at that last theory, knowing that Gwen harboured some sort of attraction for the man. However, he also knew that Jack didn't reciprocate those feelings.

Sighing heavily, he looked back up and met Jack's eyes. "I was just thinking about how much simpler things were for the group dynamics when I was unconscious for most of the time." Jack gave a soft chuckle and set his half empty coffee mug down on the desk.

"Don't worry about Gwen, she's just getting a little stir crazy for action. I just need to send her out on a run next time we get rift activity." His smile widened. "She's like a border collie; she needs two walks a day to keep her under control!"

Ianto couldn't help the laugh that bubble through his throat and looked away again. "Seriously though, Jack. I don't want to step on her toes with this. If it's simpler, I'll just stay back and help Tosh with this side of the mission."

"What good would that do, letting her get her own way all the time? She needs to learn that she's not the boss around here, I am." Jack stood up and made his way over to Ianto, standing a just in front of him, reaching a hand out to gently take hold of Ianto's shirt. "Besides, I'd much rather spend a night in the SUV with you."

Ianto laughed properly at that and let Jack kiss him playfully on the lips before pushing him firmly away, eliciting a look of mock anguish on the older man's face. "Later."

"The others all have things to do, work to be getting on with. Surely you can spare a moment of your valuable time for such a charming and handsome man as myself?" Jack slipped his arms around Ianto's waist and held him in place. Ianto tried to push him away half heartedly but ended up being pulled into another kiss instead. They kissed for a long time, leant up against the door, pressed together, completely content with the situation.

Unfortunately, a series of raised voices from the other side of the door was telling a different story.

"Owen, I was NOT offering to be a prostitute!" Gwen's voice was rather heated, causing Jack to pull away from Ianto reluctantly, let him go and swing the door open, standing in the doorway, arms folded, looking on in annoyance.

"I wasn't suggesting that you were, I just asked if you wanted some practice." Owen was sitting at his desk, cowering away from the angry woman. Obviously Owen had gone just a little too far. "It was a joke! Christ, Gwen, when have you ever been that overly-sensitive? Time of the month, is it?"

Gwen scowled at him and stormed off to the boardroom. Owen looked up at Jack and raised an eyebrow at him. Jack just shrugged and sighed, heading out of his office and through to Tosh's desk.

"Any rift activity? I'm feeling the itch to do scavenge some alien junk." He placed a hand on the back of Tosh's chair and leaned down a little, scanning the computer screens and deciphering what it meant. In the surrounding area, the Rift had been sleeping like an old cat.

"Sorry, Jack. There's nothing happening." Tosh looked up at him apologetically.

"As soon as something turns up, you and Gwen go to get it, if it's a two person operation. If not, come get me, okay?" Tosh smiled and nodded, turning back to her work as Jack turned back to Owen. "As for you, try not to piss her off again?"

Owen gave him a scathing look and headed off to the autopsy bay to finish cataloguing the latest cadavers. Jack shook his head slightly and went back into his office, pleased to see Ianto sitting comfortably on the sofa in the corner, flicking through case files of the past attacks and noting down the areas of Cardiff that the bodies had been found in. Jack smiled as he realised that the young man was deep in thought and slowly crept towards him, planning on a surprise attack.

"Don't even think it, sir." Without looking up, Ianto had managed to freeze Jack in his tracks, about four feet away from the sofa. His shoulders slumped down in defeat and he shuffled the rest of the way over to sit down next to him on the sofa.

"So what've you got?"


	33. Chapter 3: Confrontations

Yay, another chapter for you so soon after the last one!! Aren't you lucky little buggers? This is to make up for the lack of updates for a while. They regularity will peter out a little due to revision for GCSEs, but hopefully not below 1 update a week at the minimum. This update is my trying to flesh out this storylien a bit. It's taking place over a few days, but I want it to be completely self contained in this part. HOPefully this isn't spoiling the fic for you guys!

I actually really like this chapter, I think there's just the right balance of the characters, and even hints and Tosh/Owen towards the end. I'm thinking of making them alot friendlier with each other than they were in the series, just because I think Towen is a fabulous pairing as well.

Comments are love, as always! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything below unfortunately! They all belong to Russel T. Davies and the respective actors adn actresses that bring the characters to life!

* * *

_Chapter 3: Confrontation_

"From the looks of it, you were right about where they tend to strike." Ianto pulled out a past file and clipped on the list of locations to the front. "They're pretty much in the same sort of places; back streets just out side of the centre, the docks… Mainly places with not many people around."

Ianto folded the file closed and pulled out the next one, doing the same task of jotting down all the locations. He would eventually compile them onto a map so Jack could assess where the best spot to try first was. This task was significantly harder with Jack trying to get his attention several times, and the humming that came from him when he got bored of being ignored.

"You know what you said about Gwen being a border collie?" Ianto finally spoke as he stood up, his lists completed and the files tucked under his arm as he headed for the door. Jack looked at him in confusion for a moment, but started to chuckle as Ianto left the room, getting up and moving over to his desk. Ianto headed for Tosh's workstation as she'd be able to help him plot the locations on a computerised map for him.

As they started their work on the map of Cardiff, Gwen hovered for a moment between her workstation and Jack's office, eventually heading in and standing just inside the doorway. She looked at Jack expectantly, but the captain didn't notice her. He was immersed in some paperwork he was finishing, scribbling away on the paper.

Eventually, she cleared her throat to get some attention, but Jack didn't even bother looking up.

"Since when have you ever waited to get my attention before?" He'd known she'd been standing there since she arrived, and was slightly amazed that she'd broken the habit of a lifetime and waited for an invite to talk.

"Well, I thought you were busy, and paperwork's more important." Jack placed his pen down and looked up slowly. Gwen was almost as bad as he was when it came to doing paperwork on time, so there was something a lot more pressing on her mind that a brief chat. He steepled his fingers together and leaned his elbows on the desk, looking at her over the tops of the arches.

"It's just a report for UNIT on something from last month, I found it buried under a pile of other stuff. What's up?" He looked at her intently and she stepped closer, looking a little uncomfortable. He gestured to a chair and replaced his fingers together, watching as she sat down and sighed.

"It's Ianto." Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the mock sincerity in her voice. "He's only been back for a few days, and I was thinking maybe we should ease him back into things. He had a tough time with what Hart put him through, and there's bound to be after effects, even now."

"There _are _after effects that are still rattling around in his head, but the worst thing I could do is stop him from working properly." Jack stared at the woman directly. "Now, why are you really asking? Don't even try to kid me that you're just concerned. I saw the look on your face earlier."

Her mouth flapped open and closed a few times before she managed a reply. "I was just a bit shocked, that's all-"

"Cut the crap, Gwen!" Jack's eyes flashed dangerously and she straightened herself out a little.

"Okay, okay fine! Ever since you got back, you've been keeping me at arm's length! You spend all your time with Ianto and you take all your runs with him." Jack knew that deep down she was saying_ 'Why aren't I the centre of your attention anymore?'_. He carried on staring at her, trying to think whether he should dignify that with a reply. Eventually, he managed to stop an extremely sarcastic and childish comment coming out.

"Need I remind you what happened when I came back?" He looked at her coldly and Gwen stared right back.

"If this is about Rhys, and the engagement then-" She began, but Jack cut in.

"Oh, get over yourself! I don't care whether you're engaged to Rhys or not! The way you treated me then, the way you're treating Rhys now; you spared me the humiliation, so I thank you for bringing me back to my senses!" Jack had slammed a fist down on the table, annoyed that she'd even mentioned that. He'd battled his thoughts for the best part of a year whilst he was strung up, finally coming to the conclusion that it wasn't Gwen who'd saved him from insanity, it was Ianto. The woman may have brought him back to life after Abadon, but that infatuation was short lived and finally rationalised by the memories of Ianto's loyalty and affection. Granted, that resolve had wavered for a moment when he'd been alone with Gwen, but the feeling of the ring had brought him promptly back to his conclusions. He'd felt fairly guilty the next time he'd been with Ianto, spurring himself on to ask the young man on a date. A date which had had to be postponed because of John's 'trick'. "I was talking about the way you adopted command of Torchwood, when Owen is my official second in command, and Tosh is by far your senior here. I'm talking about the way you bend the rules you don't like, disobey the orders you don't agree with and cause trouble when you don't get your own way."

Gwen stared at him, dumbstruck. Jack silently thought about he wisdom of saying all those things to her. He had to admit that he finally felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He'd been simmering about Gwen's lack of respect for his position and her own in the team, the way she carried on regardless of her orders or instructions.

"You left us, Jack! Owen wasn't getting anything done so I stepped in. No one complained, so it carried on like that!" She glared at him, but Jack just waved a hand to get her to shut up.

"Yes, I left you! I left you to do something I'd been waiting for two hundred years to do. I don't care about the reasons, and to be honest, I don't particularly blame you. I do, however, care about having a member of the team who isn't willing to follow my orders. Remember what happened last time you all took it upon yourself to ignore me?" His icy cold stare continued and Gwen blushed, her defensive glare weakening a little. Jack just sat back and watched for her reaction. He was surprised to find that she looked away, down at the floor, shifting a little in her seat.

"Jack-" He waved his hand again and cut her off.

"Don't say sorry to me. Go back out to your desk, say sorry to Ianto and get on with your work on the case." Jack's voice left no room for interpretation, but Gwen didn't even attempt to carry the conversation on. She nodded slightly and got up, leaving the room for her workstation. Jack watched her go and propped his feet back up on the desk, chewing on the end of his pen thoughtfully.

He watched, amused, as she hovered for a few minutes before getting up and going over to tap Ianto on the shoulder, looking a little uncomfortable as they exchanged a few words. After another minute or so, she turned round to go back to her desk, meeting Jack's eyes briefly before looking away. Jack looked at Ianto and the young man gave him a look of thanks and a nod before turning back to the computer screen Tosh was showing him.

Jack allowed himself a look at the sight of Ianto bending over, his back to him, as he worked. Jack sighed happily and turned back to his report, glad that it was Ianto coming with him on the surveillance trip.

* * *

Several hours later, the team were assembled in the board room again. This time, Ianto and Tosh were standing by the screen, explaining their map and running through all the likely areas for an attack. Tosh was giving them low down of past cases; how many were killed in what areas, whether the areas were revisited the next occasion and so on.

Forty minutes later, Owen, Jack and Gwen all felt that they knew what was going on to a sufficient degree. Tosh had handed Jack a palm pilot with all the information inputted onto it. Jack brought up the map of the city and found that all the murder scenes had been flagged up. He nodded in approval and closed the device, slipping it into his pocket. He had no doubt that Ianto would have his own palm pilot, his latest notes and analysis of the past cases filled in with extra attention to detail.

As Jack returned to his office, he was pleasantly surprised to find Ianto's hand linking into his and the young man accompanying him into the room.

"What was that for?" Jack dropped onto the sofa and Ianto took a seat in the desk chair. He smiled as Ianto shrugged and sat back in the chair, sighing a little.

"I felt like it." He rubbed his eyes briefly and looked up at the ceiling, rolling his head on his neck to stretch out the stiff muscles. "What did you say to Gwen earlier?"

Jack chuckled and sat back, nestling back into the comfortable seat. "I just had a few words, reminded her who was running the place." Ianto smiled and pushed himself up out of the seat.

"I should go help Tosh kit out the SUV for tonight-" Ianto was rubbing the back of his neck, but looked up as Gwen appeared at the door, leaning around the doorframe.

"I'm ordering pizzas, what do you two want?" She looked at Jack, then at Ianto, then watched the look they exchanged. She couldn't read the expression on the young man's face, but Jack recognised the apprehension. _So he still doesn't want to eat anything? _Jack just looked over at Gwen and smiled.

"We'll have a large Hawaiian, thanks." Gwen nodded and smiled, disappearing from the room and heading over to the board room to collect the orders for the other two. Jack looked over at Ianto, who was staring into space and chewing on his lip slightly. He let out a soft chuckle and held his hand out for Ianto.

The young man looked up in surprise and after a delayed reaction, walked over and took hold of his hand, allowing himself to be pulled down next to him. The older man didn't say anything to him about the food situation and Ianto was silently thankful. He assumed that there was a continuing chemical imbalance in him that was suppressing his hunger. He also assumed that Jack was thinking this too, but there was no knowing what the others would think of his continuing hesitation to eat.

"How's your day been so far?" Jack looked over at Ianto, studying his eyes as the young man looked at him intently. He smiled at the older man and there was suddenly wisdom beyond his years glittering in the stormy blue depths.

"It's been… busy." He looked away and smiled to himself, leaning back on the sofa and gazing at the wall opposite. "It's one hell of a case to come back from sick leave to."

"I'll bet." He watched Ianto for a little while, taking in the way his lips curved in his hidden amusement, the way his hair was stylishly ruffled, a little out of place from earlier against the door. He smiled and thought to himself, again, just how lucky he was to have found someone like Ianto Jones to spend his time with. "Do you want to get some sleep before we head off later? You might not get a chance to sleep for a while."

"No, I'm fine. I've been without sleep for several days before it got to me." Ianto looked over at him and saw Jack's raised eyebrows and elbowed him gently in the ribs. "You should know that, you caused the lack of sleep as I seem to recall."

Jack chuckled and leaned forwards to kiss him gently, savouring the taste. He knew he wouldn't get a chance to kiss his lover again for a few hours, maybe even a few days.

Ianto leaned his head on Jack's shoulder and sighed heavily, Jack's arm coming around his shoulders to hold him close, their hands still clasped together. Jack was finding himself wishing that they could be together like this for hours, knowing that in a few minutes, Ianto would get up to get fix everyone a coffee. It was knowing that which made the moments they had together in work all the more special.

As predicted, about ten minutes later, Owen piped up, calling for Ianto to make him some coffee. Ianto sighed again, squeezed Jack's hand briefly and pushed himself up, slipping his hands into his pockets and shuffling off to the kitchen area. Jack watched him leave and, after a few moments, decided that he didn't want to sit in his office on his own, so he followed Ianto out into the hub to find Tosh and Owen laughing happily on the sofa behind the woman's workstation.

They looked up and Tosh concealed a grin, Owen's face slipping into his usual self satisfied smirk. Jack pulled a face and headed over to the kitchen area, feeling in a rather physical mood. Ideally, he wanted the day to be over, for the city to survive on it's own for a while and to take Ianto back to the flat and spend the night with him. Granted, it had been less than twenty-four hours since they had last been in bed, but the past day had gone annoyingly slowly.

As he approached, Ianto turned around with a tray laden with coffee mugs, which Jack promptly removed from his hands to carry over to the coffee table himself. Ianto's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he followed Jack round nonetheless. He pulled up Tosh's desk chair and sat down, retrieving his coffee and blowing on it gently to cool it down. He caught Jack staring at him and grinned, sliding down into his seat a little more as Jack shook his head slightly and looked away.

"So, are you two ready for your little night time jaunt?" Ianto looked at Owen sceptically and Jack grinned to himself. "Oh, I see. Will you actually get any work done?"

"Well, I've always wanted to have-" Jack started, but Ianto cut across him.

"Yes, Owen. We'll get some work done." Ianto took a dignified sip of his coffee. "And sir? I don't count as work, no loop-hole."

Owen snorted and Tosh laughed, but Jack looked thoroughly put out. Ianto had noticed the sly expression creeping across his features and decided to cut the fantasy short. He was well aware of how much Jack wanted to have sex in the SUV. Ianto had found the list in his desk drawer a while ago. He smiled as he remembered that Jack had ticked off several of the locations before he disappeared off with the Doctor. Of course, Jack didn't know that Ianto had found the list. The older man liked to think his ideas were somewhat shocking and spontaneous when he suggested them. It would've ruined the whole thing if he'd found out that his lover knew pretty much exactly what he had in store.

Gwen soon turned up carrying their pizzas, and Ianto pulled up another chair for her, positioning himself between the woman and Jack. He could sense that Gwen was still slightly worried about being too near Jack. Whether it was fear, or annoyance, he didn't know. He didn't particularly want to either.

They all sat and ate their pizzas together, the tense atmosphere soon melting back to how it had been the day before. Ianto managed to eat a couple of slices of Jack's pizza, and Jack managed to divert attention away from Ianto's lack of food intake successfully.

When Tosh's computer beeped 21:00 at them in bright blue digits, Jack sighed heavily and got to his feet. He stretched and groaned at his stiff muscles before shoving his hands into his pockets and looking around.

"Come on then, lets get this show on the road!" Jack grinned, almost manically, at Ianto and Owen gave the young man a look which clearly wished him good luck. Ianto just rolled his eyes at Jack before pushing himself up out of his chair and heading off to the office to pick up their coats, throwing Jack's to him as he re-emerged.

The other three watched as Ianto pushed a now hyperactive Jack through the huge cog door, the metal wheel closing on the sight of Jack grinning and dragging Ianto into the lift as the Welshman tried, unsuccessfully, to get him to calm down a little.

"Poor kid…" Owen sighed and got up, heading down to the autopsy bay. "We better do whatever we can to keep him sane from here."

The two women fervently agreed with him.


	34. Chapter 4: Progress

Well, it really has been a long time, and for that I'm really, REALLY sorry! I only hope that people have actually stuck around to be interested in a new installment. I don't have any excuses for taking so long to write this chapter. I would only say that I've had alot of coursework deadlines, I've been ill and I have my GCSEs coming up in a couple of weeks (though that still doesn't excuse the long, LONG wait). I think the real reason is that since the end of the TV series, I've found inspiration a little hard to come by, and my writing's just flagged a little.

To those of you who are actualyl sticking around with this, thank you so so much. I promise you that I have storylines for all the following chapters now, especially the last few (proper season finale hopefully!). I've had a few cool ideas that I'm sticking in, becuase I's love to see them actually used in the next TV season.

I do think the story's flagging a little here, but taht might just be because it took me so long to write a new one. I intend to have the next chapter up before thew week is out! That should get me back in the right flow to write.

Thankyou again for all the patience and support!

**Disclaimer**: I sadly do not own anything below. It all belongs to Russel T. Davies, who's completely fabulous!

* * *

_Chapter 4: Progress_

Ianto had decided to let Jack drive them to their first stake out point, giving the occasional direction to him as Jack whistled happily to himself. It intrigued Ianto that the older man was so excited about such a mundane, and frankly boring, assignment as this. They would be sitting in the SUV without lights, music or sleep for at least one night, more likely two or three before they got any hints, but that didn't seem to phase Jack.

They'd been sitting still for at least twenty minutes before Jack started to talk, surprising Ianto out of his reverie of a hot bath and a DVD on his large TV. He looked around from where his eyes were resting on the entrance to an alleyway and studied Jack curiously.

"You know, this is the first time I've done this since I was a Time Agent." Ianto's eyebrows rose a little, wondering what had brought this on. He'd never talked about the Time Agency to him before. It was one of those things that Ianto had just accepted about Jack's past, knowing that he'd never really know what happened.

"You used to do stake outs in the 51st century?" Jack smiled and chuckled a little, nodding his head.

"Yup, we used to do stakeouts in the outer ranges of the human empire, in some far off galaxies. There was a hostile race of aliens that were quite insistent on slaughtering some of the weaker colonies, and I was posted as a scout for a while." Jack was staring straight ahead, getting a little lost in his thoughts. Ianto just considered how strange it was to think that the human race spread out across galaxies.

"Why haven't you been on one since then?" Ianto was slightly curious, but he was more interested in how much Jack would reveal to him about his past.

"Technology." They both heard a snort of disapproval through their headsets as Tosh let them know what she thought of the situation. Her presence was not only good from a professional point of view, it also stopped Jack from doing anything inappropriate. "I just mean that technology in this day and age is usually so efficient that we've never had to stage a stakeout before. I dunno what these current guys are doing to get round Tosh's systems, but they're good."

There was a small noise of satisfaction and Jack grinned, making Ianto smile in return. Tosh was extremely protective over her systems and any insult against them was an insult against her. She would no doubt be designing a new program to detect whatever it was they were tracking for their next appearance right now. Hopefully they'd return with something to give her more of an idea of what she was tracking. Right now, the best she could do was fiddle with some temperature sensors to detect the rapid drops caused from freezing the bodies to sub-arctic conditions. Owen had worked out that it was the cold that killed them, literally freezing the victim's blood in their veins.

Jack had settled into a comfortable silence, leaning his elbow on the car door and resting the side of his head on his hand, staring straight ahead. Ianto took this as a good sign and sunk down a little in his seat, making himself a little more comfortable.

In the lack of conversation that stretched between them, Ianto heard noises coming through his ear piece. It sounded like raised voices and scuffling in the background of Tosh clacking away at her keyboard, imputing endless reels of coding. He vaguely made out Gwen's indignant voice and Owen's sarcastic tones and wondered what the source of the disturbance was.

He opened his mouth to say something to Jack, but the older man just winked and smiled, raising a finger to his lips with a mischievous glint in his eyes. The young man just frowned a little and tried to protest, but found Jack's lips promptly stopping any words he was going to say. When Jack pulled away, Ianto silently noted how quiet that kiss had been and resigned himself to listening to what was going on in the background.

"Yeah, but your coffee is crap!" Owen was sounding a little exasperated, and Ianto could imagine him throwing his hands up in the air in annoyance.

"Well then _you_ try and convince Ianto to let someone else use the coffee machine." He could see the rolling eyes and the hands on hips in his mind's eye and smiled.

"Oh screw that! I'm making myself a coffee! Screw Tea-boy if I can't use the coffee machine, and we all know I'm the straightest person in the place! Besides, how's he going to know if I use it?" There were a few clatters and clangs as someone obviously threw some metallic objects in Owen's direction, a yell of pain and a growl in protest before a girlish giggle and Tosh's superior tones cutting in.

"Guys, could you keep it down a little, please?" Tosh sounded amused and weary at the same time, and Ianto wondered just what was going on back at the Hub.

"Yeah, sure, we _could_ keep it down, but to be honest, I don't feel like it!" Owen's voice echoed a little, as if he was yelling from somewhere above the workstations. Jack hazarded a guess that he was in the kitchen area, and he looked over at the young man to see his jaw clenched and his eyes staring blankly at a spot in the dark street ahead. Jack had to stifle a laugh at Ianto's reaction and concentrate on what was going on over the ear piece.

"Oh, okay then. Just to let you know, the comms are open and they've just heard everything you've said… Including that he'd never know if you touched the coffee machine." Her voice was filled with nonchalance and Jack could imagine her shrugging and turning away, a smug grin on her face. He could also imagine the colour draining out of Owen's face and him backing away from the kitchen area hurriedly.

Jack listened to the goings on a little more before reaching up and taking his earpiece out, turning it off and tossing it onto the dashboard, reaching over and doing the same to Ianto.

"Sir-" Ianto felt his stomach drop a little, but Jack just laughed and cut across him.

"Relax! Despite everyone's assumptions, I never had any intention of being any different than I am at the hub." Jack shifted his position and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

"Sir, that's hardly encouraging. For instance, remember the time down in the archives a couple of months ago, when you got bored? And then there's almost everyday when I bring you coffee mid afternoon-" Ianto looked up at the ceiling as he started to recount the unprofessional attitudes Jack had at work when he felt Jack's hand cover his mouth up, looking round to find Jack fixing him with a withering look.

"Okay, I get your point, Mr. Jones, but I mean that I'm not about to jump you." He released Ianto's mouth and looked back out at the street. "That can wait for another day!"

Ianto just rolled his eyes and resigned himself to an entire night of Jack's semi-professional, flirtatious banter, not quite like he was in the privacy of the flat, but due to the close confines, less boss-like than at the hub. It was going to be a tiring night. The only hope was that they could find out something that would be useful later on.

* * *

The first day, Ianto hadn't needed to sleep. He still had another 24 hours in him, but by the second day, he'd needed to recharge. He'd finished all his work as fast as he could and then gone into Jack's office whilst the captain was working on something with Tosh for the following night's surveillance. He'd no sooner curled up on the sofa and closed his eyes when the light flicked on and Jack stood in the doorway, arms folded and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"No, Jack." He hadn't even waited for the older man to say something, he'd just pushed him self up, rubbing his eyes, and walked straight past him to make himself a cup of industrial strength coffee.

Little did he know that Jack was standing in the doorway still, looking a little sorry for himself and watching the young man move around the hub. Ianto would have been mortified to know that Jack watched him as he'd yawned so much that his legs had buckled and he'd had to support himself against the kitchen counter.

Jack had allowed himself a small smile at that and chuckled a little at the loud, exasperated growl that came from the kitchen area as Ianto tried to shake the sleep away. The rest of the afternoon had gone in much the same fashion; Ianto disappearing off to the Tourist Office or to the archives, probably to catch some power naps, and Jack sitting in his desk chair, idly thinking about the next time he could spend the night at Ianto's.

He'd wistfully pulled himself back to reality when the object of his daydreams appeared in front of him, holding his coat out for him with a grouchy, half annoyed expression on his face. Jack remained silent, but offered him a small smile as he accepted his coat and slipped it on, following the young man out of the office.

Ianto headed through the to door and continued on his monotonous walk through the hub, but Tosh pulled Jack to one side on the way out.

"You've got to let him get some sleep, Jack. Tomorrow at least, let him sleep. I'm not saying the day off, because I get the feeling he'd still come into work… But let him get some rest?" She looked imploringly up at him and Jack grimaced, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, he should pull through tonight okay, but I'll make him get some sleep tomorrow." He patted the hand gripping his arm and headed off, jogging to catch the door before it rolled shut.

"Good luck!" Tosh called out after him and Jack turned, flashing her a grin as the wheel rolled closed.

* * *

That night had held little luck for them, but it had inspired Tosh's thought process which produced a temperature sensor that could scan city wide and alert them to any attacks in the process. They didn't know whether the temperature drop was an attack or just the natural state around the attacker, but Jack wanted to be sure before he and Ianto rushed in. He couldn't let Ianto get hurt like that.

When they got back to the hub the following morning, Ianto headed straight to Jack's office without talking, and the others just let him past. The young man had got increasingly more agitated and withdrawn as the night had progressed, snapping several times over the intercom to Owen, who had been fooling around in the background with files and objects that should have been archived by then.

Jack had shot Owen a warning look as the medic opened his mouth to argue with the Captain on his return, and followed Ianto into the office, closing the door behind him. Ianto turned around at the sound of Jack behind him and was about to protest, but Jack just covered his mouth quickly with one of his hands and raised and eyebrow at him. Ianto gave him a half-hearted glare before sighing heavily and pulling himself away and dropping down onto the sofa, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"How many more nights is this going to go on, sir?" Ianto sounded a little world weary, his fatigue echoing in his voice. Jack sat on the edge of his desk and folded his arms.

"As many as it takes to make some headway." A thought flashed into the Captain's mind and he shot Ianto a sideways look, a coy smile curling his mouth a little. "You know, if you're too tired, I could just take Gwen with me tonight…"

He left the sentence open, but Ianto's eyes snapped up to meet his, an annoyed scowl slipping past his usually refined and schooled expression. That made Jack chuckle, which, in turn, made Ianto growl in disapproval. Jack had forgotten how much fun Ianto was when his defences fell. The young man had been very cautious to keep it up since his return to work, and Jack hadn't realised how used to it he'd gotten over the past few weeks.

Ianto pushed himself up and walked across the room, heading for the door. Jack stopped him in his tracks by reaching out and wrapping his fingers around the Welshman's wrist. Ianto raised an eyebrow, mimicking Jack's earlier expression, and stared at him, waiting for an indication of what he was supposed to be doing.

Jack spent a moment toying with the idea of ordering the young man to go get him some coffee but soon realised that it wouldn't bode well for him in the future if he did so. Instead, he nodded towards the hatch in the floor and let go of Ianto's wrist, gently turning him around and giving him a gentle push.

"I need you at your best tonight, so get some sleep." Ianto opened his mouth to protest, but Jack gave him a pointed look. Resigning himself to yet another day of sleep, Ianto shuffled over to the hatch and swung himself down, similar to how Jack would've done.

Jack allowed himself another smile and headed out into the main part of the hub, schooling his expression into one of annoyance and disapproval with Owen. If he couldn't have Ianto's company then he would have fun messing with the Medic.

* * *

On the fourth night, Ianto was sitting in the driver's seat of the SUV, arms folded on top of the wheel, chin resting on his arms. He stared out at the foggy alleyway in front of him and his thoughts started to trail in different directions. He was stoically ignoring the stream of innuendos coming from the man in the back seat.

Jack had become immensely bored with the operation, as he had the previous nights, about four or five hours into it. He was humming to himself, making suggestive comments and generally trying to get Ianto to take him. The young man would later marvel at the lack of self restraint it took for him to fight Jack's remarks. They both knew that nothing would happen in the SUV, but somehow that didn't stop Jack from trying.

Ianto glanced at his palm top, open in front of him, and then sat up a little to take the small computer and check the weather reports. He opened the reports they'd hacked through to from the U.N.I.T. database and found, to his surprise, that it was supposed to be clear and mild that night.

_Well, it IS a weather report.. I guess that even U.N.I.T. can get it wrong_. He continued to muse to himself about the relative merits of U.N.I.T. compared to other agencies, and was just about to guess who'd win out of a fight between them and the FBI, when Tosh's slightly frantic voice drifted through his headset. Ianto heard Jack shoot upright from his laid back, lounging position across the back seats.

"Guys, I think we have one heading towards you!" Tosh sounded excited, but Ianto just felt his stomach twist a little bit.

"What makes you say that, Tosh?" Jack had slipped completely back into work mode, his enthusiasm renewed.

"Well, the temperature is dropping near to you, and the heart of the temperature change is moving closer. That's making me think it's an atmospheric phenomenon around the attacker." Jack was nodding to himself as Ianto twisted around in his seat to watch as the Captain's face moved through the stages of formulating a plan.

"Okay. Gwen, make sure no police lackeys turn up and scare it off. Tosh, Owen get the interrogation room ready. Hopefully we'll have someone to throw down there by the time we get back." Jack looked up and flashed a grin at the slightly concerned man in the driver's seat, and Ianto instantly knew that the chase had begun.


	35. Chapter 5: Signs

Woooooo, another chapter! Getting nearer to the end of this little section, and I'm missing writing Jack/Ianto fluff, so maybe there'll be some more concentrated stuff in the next section!

Just a quick AN here, to say thankyou to everyone for allt he support and reviews. I jsut hope you're still alive out there to read and review (not to mention enjoy) the new installment! Sorry it's taken so long, but I AM going to try to up the tempo again, as I'm now on study leave and have some more time to dedicate over to fic writing

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: -ninjah- I own the alien species, babay! But everythign else is Russel T. Davies

* * *

_Chapter 5: Signs_

The first sign that Ianto noticed was the way his breath appeared in front of him, clouding against the windscreen and blurring his view of the road. He pulled his gun from the holster strapped under his arm and checked the weapon over, preparing it for a possible shoot out that might occur.

He was half way through the task when his hands started to shake, his teeth chattering slightly as he forced himself to concentrate. He glanced up to find Jack, now sitting in the passenger seat, watching him carefully. He couldn't tell what the Captain was thinking, whether it was work related or a fantasy concerning himself and a bottle of chocolate sauce. Whatever ever it was made Jack's gaze to intense that Ianto had to look away, concentrating on slotting his gun back in the holster and warming his hands back up.

"Ianto, you need to stay in the SUV." Jack suddenly spoke, making Ianto look up and frown in confusion.

"Do you want me out of the way, sir?" Ianto's voice didn't convey any of the confusion inside him, but it made Jack shake his head apologetically.

"I don't mean like that, I'm simply referring to the fact that this creature makes the air around it drop to sub-arctic levels, and I don't want you getting hurt, or worse, killed, by it." He smiled and opened the glove compartment, pulling out a pair of heavy duty, industrial, workers gloves, the kind used when handling liquid oxygen containers. Ianto ignored the voice in his head asking why there was a pair of them just lying around in the SUV. "If I do need you, make sure you wear these. Keep your ear piece in at all times so I can get to you if needs be."

Jack flashed a slightly stunned Ianto a smile and clambered quickly out of the car, pressing his comms device and then strolling into the thick fog around the SUV. It took Ianto a moment to compose himself, but as soon as he had, he smoothly pushed his ear piece in, opened the comms and retrieved the palm pilot with the active temperature sensors on it.

"Ianto, talk to me. Where am I headed? I can't see a damned thing out here!" Jack's voice floated through the earpiece, making Ianto smile. Jack had always been one to act first think later, so it didn't come as a surprise for him to find that the Captain had no idea what he was doing out there. He allowed himself a moment of mockery before replying.

"You need to head straight down the road you're on until you reach an alley on your right, roughly fifty feet away. There's a source of body heat in there which I'm guessing is the prey." He toggled closer into the heat map and gauged how far from the entrance the alien was. "I would say that it's going to beat you there by about twenty feet if you both stay at your current speeds."

"Right." Ianto heard Jack chuckling to himself as he broke into a run. He was probably going to try to stop the alien before it got into the alley.

"May I make a suggestion, sir?" Ianto tried to keep his professional, polite voice in tact, without the slight hint of concern that he knew would come through if he let it slip.

"Sure, be my guest."

"I think you should let it get into the alleyway, and block it in. You can shoot it down before it reaches the person in there and it's a whole lot easier on the rest of us if something goes wrong." There was a pause in the proceedings as Jack remained silent. "You know, not that anything _will_ go wrong."

"Yeah, okay. That makes sense, Ianto, thanks." Ianto let out a sigh of relief, which was slightly too loud, as he heard another chuckle drift through his ear piece. The chuckling turned into humming and Ianto felt himself tense up again. Jack really wasn't taking this seriously enough for his liking.

Without a second thought, he climbed out of the SUV, having to use his shoulder to shove the door open, breaking the ice that had formed around it. Instantly, he was hit with a wall of freezing cold air, making his teeth chatter in his skull. He quickly pulled the gloves Jack had given him on and managed to pull his gun back out of the holster, wedging one of his leather clad fingers around the trigger as he stared down at the palm top, reading the progress of Jack, the alien and himself.

He watched as the small red blob of Jack's body heat approached the centre of the cold area, cutting through rapidly lowering layers of temperature, straight towards the centre. As far as Ianto could tell, the alien hadn't noticed that Jack was only a few feet away, or it didn't care in the slightest. He just watched as Jack came to a halt and the heart of the cold took a turn, towards the other heat source.

Ianto picked up his pace and jogged along the road quietly, the tension in his shoulders tightening as he watched Jack turn into the alley. He cursed under his breath as he vainly tried to see through the thick, swirling fog around him. There was nothing but vague shadows and orange tinged billows of frozen moisture. He could just about make out the corner of the building that lead round to the confrontation that was about to occur.

As if on cue, two gun shots rang out in quick succession, causing Ianto to freeze in place at the piercing screech that sounded. It was most definitely not human. The noise was followed by a deep murmuring, causing Ianto to snap back into motion and head cautiously through the now thinning fog towards the steadily solidifying outline of Jack, his gun pointing at something sprawled on the floor.

"What _is_ that?" Ianto couldn't help himself. He was staring at a humanoid, a little shorter than himself yet a lot thinner. The growing pools on the floor, spilling from two gun shot wounds to its abdomen, were like liquid silver, flowing steadily across the pale, metallic skin onto the muddy, grey ground. The face was contorted in pain, the huge eyes and flat nose screwed up, the mouth twisted into a grimace. Ianto almost felt sorry for it.

He soon snapped out of it with a shiver at the new chill in the air, a very long, very thin hand starting to snake its way towards him, long, tendril like fingers readying themselves to curl around his neck. Luckily, Ianto managed to pull himself back just as Jack lunged at the creature, hitting its arm with the butt of his gun. There was another whimper of pain and it curled up, clutching its wounded stomach with its thing limbs, the chill creeping away from the air.

"Try to freeze him again, and I'll blow it clean off." Jack was growling at the creature, and Ianto heard what seemed to be a confirmation or an acceptance from it. Then he turned round to face the young man, his face set into a grim frown at the alien lying on the floor. "They're called the Astorians. I'm assuming that they cool the air down to produce the fog, which obscures them whilst they hunt and kills their prey at the same time."

At that point, Ianto looked over Jack's shoulder to find a young woman cowering against the wall, staring at the silvery creature in horror, her eyes wide with disbelief. Ianto quickly side stepped Jack, pulling his gloves off and folding them up, shoving them in his jacket pocket and pulling out a small bottle of white pills and a bottle of water from one of the inner pockets.

He spent a moment or two bringing the girl back to reality, getting her to be focused enough to take the pill and swallow it down. As the retcon started to take effect, Jack couldn't help but smile at Ianto's cover story. He was spinning a tale of her deciding to get a proper job, to get enough money together to go to college, to abandon her life of illicit dealings.

Pulling out several bread tags, he waited for Ianto to finish up with the girl, and within a few minutes, Ianto was by his side again, taking one of the tags and securing the alien's hands together, Jack taking care of the feet. Jack then pulled out a pre-measured syringe of sedative, which knocked the alien out, and hefted it up into his arms, carrying it securely as they made their way back to the SUV.

* * *

"I really don't think I could stand another day of nothing." Owen was sitting behind his desk, leaning back with his feet crossed on the table top. He was throwing a rubber ball at the wall and bouncing it back to himself. Every time it hit the tiled walls, Gwen winced, frowning in annoyance.

"Do you think you could _be_ any more annoying right now, Owen?" As the ball hit the tiles once more, Gwen snapped, spinning round violently in her seat to glare at him. From the seclusion of her station, Tosh sighed in mild frustration. She'd had nothing but Gwen's childish bickering with Owen for the past few days, and it was really starting to grate on her nerves.

"Yeah, actually, I could. What would you like me to do?" Owen's smart arse remark was no sooner out his mouth than Gwen leapt to her feet and Tosh decided to intervene… again.

"If either of you actually bothered to wear your earpieces, you'd know that Jack and Ianto are currently driving back with-" The siren cut her short and all three turned to looked at Jack, standing triumphantly in the doorway, his trademark roguish grin on his face.

"An Astorian with two bullet wounds to the abdomen." Jack looked pointedly to Owen as Ianto emerged, the silvery creature in his arms. He headed straight for the autopsy bay, and Owen made his way down almost immediately.

"Tosh, get to work on a translator device, just in case we need one. I don't want to have to channel the interrogation through your computers for the entire time." Tosh nodded and swivelled in her chair, facing her workstation intently.

Jack scanned the hub once more, as if checking for final orders when he met Gwen's eyes briefly. She instantly turned away and hurried back to her own station, to do what, Jack didn't know. He felt a spark of amusement at the woman's ridiculous attempt at servility before heading into the autopsy bay to look down on what was going on.

Ianto was stood back, hands in pockets as he leant on the wall watching Owen deftly remove the bullets, which seemed to be lodged in an out layer of toughened skin, and sew up the wounds. Jack observed the serene expression on the young man's face with interest, before dragging his attention to the body and the doctor.

"Any permanent damage?" Owen looked up mid stitch and raised an eyebrow.

"I know I'm good, but I honestly can't assess a species I've never treated before accurately." He looked back down and finished his stitch, giving the alien a shot of morphine and hoisting it up into his arms. "As far as human standards go, it'll be as right as rain eventually."

He strode up the stairs and through the hub to the interrogation room, slightly surprised at how light the body in his arms was. He was vaguely aware of Jack and Ianto following him into the room, but he ignored them as he sat the creature in the chair, gently leaning its head backwards to stop it sliding sideways off the chair.

"Its all yours now, Jack. I'll be up with Tosh… It's giving me the creeps." Owen shuddered a little at the distorted face and left the room before he could see Jack's smirk. He made a mental note to do something horrible to him next time he was momentarily dead.

"I think it may be a while, Ianto." Jack sighed heavily and folded his arms. When he turned around to look at the young man, he found Ianto's hand held out. It took a moment for him to realise what he was getting at, but he quickly shrugged his coat off and handed it him, watching as Ianto left the room, hopefully to put the coffee machine on.

Sighing again, Jack stretched his arms out behind him and sat down on the step below where he was standing, roughly half way down the staircase. He was just resigning himself to a long, tedious wait when he heard a spluttering from the table below and several violent in takes of breath.

_Maybe not…_ He stood up and put himself on alert as the creature opened it's large eyes, staring around itself. Eventually, it turned it's silvery face towards him, its long white hair falling across one of its shoulders in a sheet of icy strands. Jack felt the silver orbs of the creature's eyes lock onto his and a strange sensation washed through him. He desperately wanted to look away, but he couldn't bring himself to.

As he continued to stare unwillingly into the metallic eyes, Jack was vaguely aware of his legs carrying him down the stairs, towards the increasingly cool air. As he approached the bottom, he barely noticed the creature move. One of its long, thin arms was reaching towards him, the tendril like fingers beckoning him closer.


	36. Chapter 6: Vanity

Yaya, more! Hope you like this! I may have been a little mean to Jack in this chapter because I'm a bit narked at how John Barrowman's been treating Jesse on 'I'd Do Anything' - He's being COMPLETELY unfair to her! -fume- But yes, I will eventually forgive him (probably when Jack comes back to Doctor Who, but maybe before). In the mean time, please bear with me! Its not Jack-bashing, it's just me messing with him a little, don't worry.. I'm not THAT annoyed at him!

Naming Competition

The winner is **Lyra the Badwolf** with **'Jaffa Cakes'**!

That means that I shall no refer to this as Jaffa Cakes and Lyra will get another plot bunny written up for her! Woooo! Round of applause please.

**Disclaimer**: -ninjah- I own nothing, it belongs to Russel T. Davies.

* * *

_Chapter 6: Vanity_

The closer he got, the more muffled his hearing became, like his head had been shoved violently underwater. He could barely make out of the sounds of his own heartbeat and breathing, let alone the two faint clicks of gun safeties being taken off, almost simultaneously.

He didn't hear the gruff, harsh voice yell at the alien to freeze, to stop what it was doing and back down. He didn't hear the sarcastic mutter that followed and he didn't hear the footsteps as the two men who had come to his rescue descended a few more steps. He wasn't aware of anything around him except for those huge silver eyes.

Until the fingers touched him, sending shoots of pain careering through his skin where they met. His body was suddenly ablaze with the icy fire that travelled violently through him, his mind too slow on the uptake to move away or defend itself. The pain continue, growing stronger and fiercer until, with a loud cracking sound, it stopped, as suddenly as it had started.

Jack snapped out of his trance and looked first at the alien, lying wounded at his feet, clutching at one of its eyes. Then he turned around to see what had happened and his eyes met the concerned frown of Ianto Jones and the annoyed mask of Owen Harper. He took a step towards them and the floor came up violently to meet him.

* * *

When Jack woke up, he found himself laid out on the sofa in his office, his boots resting by his desk and the lights turned down. As he tried to sit up, his abused nerves and muscles screamed in protest, forcing him back down into his original position. Even keeping his eyes opened hurt. On any other day, Jack would have suspected a hangover, but as he lay in the dark, he caught flashes of memories of why he was incapacitated.

He managed to crack an eye open and look around him at the final memory of Ianto's face. When the immediate pain subdued a little, he forced a second eye open to fully take in his surroundings. At first, he saw nothing but his empty office, but as his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw a figure sitting in a chair across the room from him. It was so perfectly still that Jack had a hard time believing that it wasn't just a figment on his imagination.

He struggled with his protesting limbs a little more and managed, with a scream of effort, to sit upright and get a closer look at the person that seemed to be in the room with him. He almost leapt out of his seat when it moved, the elbows that had been resting on the chair's arms, dropping them down so that the hands were resting on the motionless legs.

"You need to lie back down, Jack." He felt relief wash through him at the sound of Ianto's voice, no matter how clipped it was.

"What happened?" He ignored Ianto's suggestion and sat forwards a little.

"Some sort of mind control. Owen scanned you and it looks like it fried your nerve endings pretty badly, making you pass out like you did. Your mind just shut itself down from the pain." Jack shivered involuntarily at the memory of the frozen fire burning its way through him. Ianto must have seen it, as when he spoke again, his voice was less harsh.

"Get some more rest, Jack. The creature's still out cold from the sedative Owen gave it, there's no need for you to question it just yet." He pushed himself up out of his chair at that and moved towards the older man, running his fingertips gently over Jack's cheek before pressing his lips gently to his forehead and leaving the office.

Jack's hand involuntarily went to his face to touch where Ianto's fingers had just been, and he was horrified at what he felt there. He jumped up, pushing the pain to the back of his mind as he scrabbled for the light switch and a mirror, bringing it up to his face to take in what he saw.

On the right side of his jaw, where the alien's fingers had contacted his skin, there were three burns, each the size of a cigarette burn. He wasn't fussed about those, they would heal eventually. No, what bothered him were the thin blue lines that spread out from each, in all directions. Some moved up towards his temples, some to his lips and others along the bottom of his jaw and down his neck, forming a delicate, raised web of blood vessels. It looked like his face was being attacked by some tentacular life form.

He sat heavily back down on his sofa and tossed the mirror onto the other seat, his eyes staring unseeingly at the wall, his mind running through all his options. He could live with this new cosmetic development, and the pain in his limbs, until his body naturally healed, if it ever did. Who knew how long his body would take to recover? From the sound, and feel, of it, this would be a very long and painful healing process. Still, Jack being Jack, couldn't sit and wait it out when he had a perfectly reasonable fail safe to fall back on.

* * *

Ianto was at the coffee machine when he heard the gunshot. At first, his instincts set him on alert, and his hand went straight for the pistol in its holster. After that momentary reaction, his logic kicked in and he thought it through thoroughly.

The alien was still out cold, so it couldn't have got hold of a gun. Tosh was sitting at her workstation, unperturbed by the noise. Gwen was up in the Tourist Office, keeping out of Ianto's way after she had tried unsuccessfully to be the bleeding heart for Jack when he passed out. A blubbering, inconsolable woman was the last thing Ianto needed when he was simply trying to move Jack to his office. She'd received a short, sharp request to go work the civilian side of the organisation, and with one look at Ianto's face, she'd disappeared.

The only options were Jack and Owen. As he headed toward that general area of the hub, he realised that Owen may just have been testing how thick the alien's skin really was, and so dropped into the autopsy bay first, looking down to see the alien strapped to the table and Owen filling in a form.

"Did you just shoot that thing again?" Owen looked up and gave him a very dry look.

"A, _you_ were the one that shot it, remember? And B, why would I shoot it?" Ianto just nodded and shrugged his shoulders. He was half way through the motion when he realised what must have happened, his eyes rolling in their sockets with annoyance. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself forcefully away from the barrier at the top of the room.

He walked round to Jack's office door and kicked it open, not bothering with the door handle. Sure enough, Jack was slumped sideways on the floor, his gun gripped loosely in his hand and his head lying in a rapidly growing pool of blood. On closer inspection, there was a bullet hole in his left temple, and the exit wound was presumably the right side of his head. Ianto already knew what the size of that wound would be and didn't bother to check for a pulse: Jack knew how to kill himself quickly, especially with his own gun.

Ianto just returned to his previous seat in the shadows and waited for the inevitable to happen, grinding his teeth together broodingly.

With a rush of fear, adrenaline and oxygen, Jack found himself alive and breathing, gasping at the air like a half drowned man. He sat up and shook his head, leaning his head forwards as he panted to get his breath back. Eventually, when he tested to see how his limbs felt, he realised that his plan had worked. His nerves were no longer mutinying against him.

He bought a hand up the gingerly probe the right side of his head, finding the skin and hair replaced but still tender as the bone underneath strengthened itself. He slowly brought his hand away, trying to ignore the feel of blood, half congealed, in his hair and on his fingers. Next, he tested the side of his jaw, desperately hoping that the raised lines had vanished as well. To his immense relief, the right side of his face now felt like it had done that morning, fresh and clear of injury and mutilation. He sighed happily, stretched his arms out and hoisted himself up onto his feet.

He barely had time to look around him when something light and made of cloth flew at him and wrapped itself around his face, temporarily blinding him. After a couple of seconds of fumbling, he managed to peel away the dirty t-shirt, looking around to find his attacker.

It was in the form of an irritated Welshman standing across the room from him, his mouth a thin line of disapproval, his jaw tense and stern. Jack caught the flash in his eye which clearly said 'Don't push your luck' and he managed to smile apologetically at the young man.

"You're cleaning that up yourself," was Ianto's only reply, his face dark and his tone cold as he stalked past him. "Idiot."

Jack whirled round at that last, whispered remark, but the young man was already gone.

* * *

It was times like these when Ianto became increasingly annoyed with himself. The fact that he'd been worried for Jack when he'd passed out was proof of this. There was nothing Ianto could do to stop himself from feeling just a little bit insignificant when he remembered that Jack was incredibly attractive and immortal. Maybe that was why he didn't like seeing Jack lying dead on the floor.

Or maybe it was because every time he did, his mind started to speculate about the deaths he'd suffered at the hands of Harold Saxon. Just the thought of Jack being chained up and in pain for the best part of a year made Ianto long to hold the man close for as long as he needed, until he felt safe.

Or maybe it was because every time Jack lay dead on the floor, that niggling doubt in his stomach almost convinced him that this time, it was permanent. He couldn't stand to see Jack kill himself so carelessly, convinced that he would return, just like always. It was because vanity had pushed him to put the barrel of his gun to his head this time that made Ianto angry. Why would anyone risk death for a few lines on their face? But then again, Jack wasn't just anyone. Jack was Captain Jack Harkness, and his looks were very high on his agenda.

He just shook his head in disgust as he stalked down to the archives, intending on brooding to himself a little more whilst he finished filing the latest paperwork and artefacts, counting down the time until he could just curl up in bed and sleep.

* * *

Jack had quickly set to work on cleaning up the mess he'd left on his office floor, working fast to make sure the blood didn't become too hard to clean up. Next, he went to the shower room and washed himself and his hair, having not had a chance to bath since coming back from the stake out. He hurried that too, grabbing a clean set of clothes and dressing himself haphazardly, as always.

When he left the steamy room, he headed towards the door down into the archives, ignoring Owen as he tried to get his attention about something. It could wait for fifteen minutes, then he would be the boss again. First, he had to attend to a personal issue.

He started to whistle to himself as he walked, feeling slightly uplifted now he was in clean clothes and his body wasn't aching any longer. He slowed as he reached the corridor that Ianto would be in, sorting the most up to date files. He walked quietly along the stone tunnel, slowing even more as he approached the half open door spilling light out into the corridor.

He hesitated for a moment before pushing the door further open and stepping into the brightly lit room. Ianto, as always, was diligently processing his work, already making a good deal of headway after only half an hour. He was also extremely alluring as he worked, his jacket slung across the back of a chair and his shirt sleeves rolled up. On this particular occasion, he was wearing a silk backed waistcoat over his deep purple shirt, fitting his figure perfectly.

Jack stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms tightly around his catch, resting his chin on Ianto's shoulder, angling his mouth inwards to kiss the soft skin of his lover's neck gently. Ianto remained unresponsive in his arms, continuing to flick through the folder in his hands before firmly easing himself free of Jack's embrace and heading over to file the last on the folders on the desk. He quickly slotted them in their correct places and closed the drawers before turning round, hands in pockets to look at Jack. The older man was slightly taken aback by the look of contempt on his face.

"Don't you _ever_ pull something like that on me again." His voice was low and menacing as Jack frowned in confusion, trying to work out what he'd done, if anything, to annoy the man in front of him.

"Ianto… what? What did I do?" Jack felt himself grasping at stray ideas to explain this to himself, but Ianto remained motionless.

"You just don't get it at all, do you?" He shook his head slightly in disgust and walked towards Jack, stopping just before their bodies touched. Jack felt himself close his eyes in preparation for whatever Ianto was about to do, and he was incredibly startled to feel the barrel of a gun pressed between his eyes. He didn't even flinch, trying to stay as still as possible.

After several tense seconds, he opened his eyes to find Ianto standing a little further back, enough to see the new expression on his face. Jack was startled to see a mixture of hurt and irritation, but he got the feeling that the irritation wasn't directed by him. He let himself look deep into Ianto's eyes, like so many times before, and recognised the faint click in his mind as Ianto's emotions changed a little more, to defeat more than annoyance. Then, as if to solidify the defeat, he leaned forwards until his lips were next to Jack's right ear and he simply whispered one word.

"_Pow_." Then he let the gun drop from Jack's forehead as he reached back to grab his jacket with his free hand and moved past him, heading out of the door. He stopped just inside the doorway, remembering his real job in Torchwood and made a forced effort to stop himself from letting his state of mind collapse in on itself. "Owen needs you upstairs, the sedative's wearing off."

Then he vanished, heading back up into the hub. Jack hadn't even turned around. He was still frozen on the spot, his mind reeling from what Ianto had done. Could this possibly have been about killing himself earlier? He shook his head slightly and managed to snap out of his second trance of the day, spinning on his heel and heading out of the door, along the corridor and up to the workstations, taking the stairs two at a time. Owen was standing there, waiting for him to turn up, a mildly annoyed expression on his face.

"We good to go then? Or would you like to shoot yourself once more for luck?" Jack gave Owen a withering look and turned away, heading to the interrogation room to begin the questioning.

* * *

**_A/N_**: Plot Bunny to anyone who can guess what film I borrowed the 'Pow' bit from! Well, anyone who can guess before I post the next chapter!


	37. Chapter 7: Communication

Woo yeah! More Jaffa Cakes for everyone. Well, for everyone who's still here. Sorry about how tedious this is! I really love everyone who's reading and reviewing it! It's very very encouraging to know there's people wanting to continue reading this! The next part is a pretty damn good part if you ask me, lots of fun and frolics, with a little more emphasis on character dynamics. Trust me, it'll be great!

As for my A/N at the bottom of the last chapter, the 'pow' bit was taken from the Wonder Boys between Michael Douglas and Frances McDormand when she holds a gun to his chest and pretends to shoot him. That whole little bit was supposed to be taken in the same vain (will he, won't he?). But it doesn't really matter! As long as it worked for you when you read it, that's cool!

PLEASE REVIEW! Reviews are VERY appreciated, they help me to write quickly (knowing that there're people actually waiting for updates). SO please please review.

**Disclaimer**: Blah blah blah, not mine. Russel T. Davies FTW.

* * *

_Chapter 7: Communication_

Jack stepped cautiously down the steps, screwing a pair of sonic earplugs that Tosh had handed him into his ears. Hopefully, the frequency they were emitting into his brain would cancel out whatever the alien was trying to do with its eyes. As he approached the bottom of the stairs, he gave each earplug another gentle twist for good measure, taking a deep breath and stepping towards the table.

The creature turned it's huge silver eyes on him and after a moment, Jack was satisfied that he was still in control of his actions. He got the impression that it wasn't the ear plugs that caused this but rather the creature choosing not to take him over. He walked right up to the table now and took the seat on the opposite side to his captive.

"Right." He looked hard at it's smooth, expressionless face, trying to connect with something that would make this easier. "You're killing my people and I want to know why."

He watched in silence as the creature sat there, its expression not changing at all, except to tilt its head very slightly to the side, sending a faint shimmer along its sheet of long white hair. Then it reached up its hand, very slowly, attempting to extend its fingers to touch Jack's skin again. He jerked backwards and pulled his gun form its holster, aiming it at the creature's head. The hand dropped back instantly.

"So you're not going to play ball, huh?" Jack placed the gun on the metal surface and tapped his fingers lightly on the table, considering what to do next. It was highly possible that this being didn't speak English, but it should at least say something to show it had heard him.

Heard him. A thought struck him and he frowned a little at the creature in front of him. It uses telepathy to control its victims, so what is there to say that they don't communicate like that as well? He leaned forwards a little and looked into its eyes (a disconcerting thing to do, as there were no irises or pupils, just spheres of silver). He raised his own hand and pointed to the alien's head, then to his own.

It seemed to understand this action and its head nodded sharply, its hand coming up from where it had dropped, fingers extending again. Jack kept constant eye contact and braced himself for what was about to happen. He felt the cool finger tips touch his skin and closed his eyes.

It all happened in a blur after that. Fire spread out from where the fingers joined his skin, freezing the contents of his veins as it moved. However, the pain wasn't as excruciating as before, and he slowly realised that this wasn't an attack, it was the price he'd have to pay for being able to communicate. His body hadn't been designed with this kind of mental connection in mind. As he slowly regained control of himself, he started to see images flicker across his vision.

He saw a planet with an orange sky, with crystal spires rising so high that they seemed to be created to touch the stars. Whether they were natural or not, Jack couldn't tell. The vision shifted to thousands of people, thousands of the alien's race, lying dead or bleeding on a vast sapphire plain, the victims of a terrible war. It moved again and he found himself looking at some sort of ceremony with seven of the creatures standing on a podium, dressed in the same fashion as the one they'd captured. They looked strikingly like bounty hunters, dressed in plain tunics and trousers, bindings around their waists, wrists and ankles. Several of them wore scarves, wound around their necks and mouths. All of them had a steely determination and a formidable look in their silver eyes.

Then everything shifted once more to somewhere much closer to home. He recognised the site of one of the murders, he watched as the woman in front of him started screaming, writhing in pain that he could imagine all too well.

Abruptly, Jack pulled away, unwilling to go any further or see anymore. He simply nodded to the creature and took several jagged breaths to try and calm his erratic heartbeat. Wearily, he pulled himself to his feet and staggered across the room, gripping the handrail for support as he climbed the stairs and left the room, locking the door firmly behind him.

"Shit! Jack, what the hell did you do?" Owen's shocked voice came from somewhere near him, and he looked up to find the medic looking at him in horror.

"What?" Jack frowned as Owen gestured vaguely at his face. Jack's hand instinctively imitated what he saw and he groaned as he felt the raised web of veins across his right cheek, no doubt radiating out form three cigarette shaped burns. "Oh. Well, so much for telepathy. I wouldn't suggest any of you do that, you may not be able to stay conscious."

Jack turned on his heel and stalked off to his office to think about what he'd seen. He dropped stiffly into his office chair and leaned backwards, staring at a patch of floor just to the side of his desk. His hand was absent-mindedly tracing the pattern on his face as he sorted through the visions.

He'd felt strange emotions at the sights, like echoes or ripples in what he was seeing, assuming that it was what the alien had felt about the events. He could see that there had been a war between the seven different tribes of Astor, a planet in a distant constellation, one that couldn't be seen from Earth. The war had been raging for generations and the race was on the brink of extinction when a delegate from the most peaceful clan travelled to the others, calling a council of the tribe leaders.

The negotiations had taken years to complete, but at least the fighting had stopped. An agreement had been reached that there would be a contest every five years on their planet, the Hunt. Jack only assumed that one year on Astor was ten on Earth.

One representative from each clan would be sent to another planet and they would harvest as many organs as possible. After centuries of the festival, the Astorians had settled on Earth as their hunting grounds and eyes, tongues and hearts as their prizes. It seemed that they made strong aphrodisiacs, and due to the limited amounts, they brought a good income.

The clan that harvested the most organs was proclaimed the winner, and their clan would lead the joint council until the next Hunt. This was where the disputes started. The same clan had won for the past three of their decades, and unrest was starting to spread through the planet, rumours and accusations flying between the clans, no one satisfied that the Hunt was unbiased anymore.

Jack couldn't see an easy way to solve this problem. He was well aware, thanks to the Doctor, that Earth was a protected planet, and therefore this race's democratic system was built on an illegal pastime. To stop the Hunt from continuing, Jack risked the collapse and possible extinction of a species. To do nothing meant that more innocent humans would be killed for the sake of their power games.

He sighed heavily and pulled himself back to reality, rubbing his eyes and pushing himself to his feet. For now, he would just keep the captive in the cells. This wasn't a decision he could make on his own, he would need the Doctor's input. If he would return the captive to Astor, maybe he could lead the way forward through more peace talks, try to find a new way of settling the inter tribe enmity. Extended discussions weren't really his style, but him being who he was, Jack suspected they would take much less time to complete.

Walking back out into the hub, he was met with Tosh's sympathetic eyes and Owen's smirk of self satisfaction.

"Oh, knock it off Owen. We all know I've had worse from shaving. It'll be gone by the morning" _One way or another._ He gestured to the interrogation room. "Take her down to the cells until we've worked out what to do."

"_Her_?" Owen snorted in disbelief and rolled his eyes at Jack's dark expression.

"Yes, 'her'. She's a tribal representative. I'll write up the report and make a copy for you all to read before the briefing tomorrow." He watched as Owen turned away to sort out the prisoner and then turned to Tosh, who was waiting expectantly for her orders.

"So much for that translation program you were running, sorry about that." Jack looked at her apologetically and she shrugged, smiling back at him.

"It was fun, don't worry about it! I'm sure it'll come in handy sometime soon. Was there anything else I could do?" Jack thought for a moment before nodding, there was something about the recent events that wasn't quite adding up.

"I need you to go back through the files and see whether the Astorians – this species – are in any way linked to the fish-man we have sitting in the morgue, you know, the time bomb?" She nodded and turned round to face her computers again. "Oh, hey, do you know where Ianto's disappeared off to?"

"I think he headed down to the firing range." Tosh's voice was already a little distant as she got to work, making Jack decide to leave her to it.

It had been a long time since he'd been down to the range, probably not since he'd taught Gwen how to shoot straight. The memory caused a stirring of guilt in his stomach. The motives behind that particular training session had been somewhat strange for him. This new member of the team, this attractive, feisty young woman, had been instantly brought to his attention, causing his light humoured pursuing of the mysterious administrator to fall by the way side.

Of course, that had all been before his year aboard the Valiant, before the team had even found out about Lisa. Ianto and himself had been a different thing back when Gwen arrived, nothing serious, just casual flirting on his behalf and graceful acceptance on Ianto's. Why did he feel so bad about it then? He hadn't cared about Ianto anymore than a boss cares about one of his employees, he'd barely known the man. Maybe that was it. He'd barely known Ianto back then, he hadn't known anything more about him than what he could look up on his personal file.

Was it that he had already been more interested in Gwen after she'd only been on the job for a week, at the most? That he already knew her better than he knew Ianto, someone who'd been on his team for almost a year? He shook his head to dislodge the train of thought that was making him increasingly uncomfortable, finding himself almost at the door to the firing range.

Although the solid steel door was closed, he could hear the furious firing of the man inside. He vaguely wondered where Ianto was finding the ammo to practice like this, and how long he'd been at it. Carefully, Jack opened the door, reaching for a pair of goggles and earmuffs, slotting them on in the antechamber to the range before stepping around the toughened glass partition and heading towards the man standing in the middle of the room, between two tables filled with various different handguns.

Ianto had removed his jacket again, his sleeves rolled up and his tie loosened, his waistcoat hanging open to give him more freedom to aim. Jack took another step towards him and as if in reply, Ianto fired off several more shots at the wooden target on the opposite side of the room. Jack marvelled inwardly at the accuracy of the young man, wondering briefly why he hadn't noticed this before.

He watched as the young man emptied the gun in his hand at the target, waiting patiently for him to finish. Eventually, the last bullet was fired, and he tossed it to the side, onto a small pile of guns on the second table that he'd already used up. Then he turned to Jack, pulling his goggles and earmuffs off at the same time, placing them on the first table. Jack followed suit and looked hard into Ianto's eyes.

"You need to keep your left hand steady when you're shooting two handed." Jack's words were soft and Ianto just smiled at him with his usual dry expression. "Apart from that, you're a pretty good marksman."

"I'm an _excellent_ marksman, sir." Jack smiled at that and nodded in agreement. He met Ianto's eyes again and saw concern in them. He stayed perfectly still as Ianto stepped around the table, one of his hands coming up to hover over the raised lines on his face. "What happened, Jack?"

"Telepathy. To communicate with me, the alien needed to have skin to skin contact. It's just my natural reaction to it." Ianto continued to stare at the lines for a moment before moving his fingers to run along one of the veins, following it from the burn to where it faded down, just below his bottom lip.

Jack was just about to speak again when Ianto leaned forwards and kissed him, his hand moving round to the back of Jack's neck. Jack felt the tension in his shoulders melt away and he slipped his arms around the young man's waist, pulling him closer. The kiss deepened and Ianto's free hand came up to wind into Jack's hair, keeping him close. After several long, contented minutes, Ianto pulled away for breath, leaning his forehead against Jack's, his hands moving so that his arms locked around his neck, showing him that he by no means wanted the older man to leave.

"I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to be so harsh." Ianto closed his eyes and simply breathed in Jack's scent, feeling comforted instantly. He'd needed to apologise to Jack since he'd calmed down, and it felt good to get it out of his system.

"_I'm_ sorry about shooting myself over something that trivial." Jack moved his head to bury his face in Ianto's neck, kissing the soft skin gently, making the young man smile.

"So you should be." He sighed and managed to move his arms, Jack instinctively moving around him to hold him from behind. Ianto picked up the next gun, the one he usually armed himself with, and checked the magazine. Jack seemed to sense what was coming, and he rested his chin heavily on the young man's shoulder. "Jack…"

"Yes?" He hadn't been remotely unsettled by the deep, warning tone in Ianto's voice, replying with his own butter-wouldn't-melt innocence. Ianto sighed and flicked him hard on the forehead, causing Jack to jerk his head back and blink hard. Ianto took the opportunity to twist free of his arms, kissing on the cheek as a consolation prize. "Where are you going?"

Jack turned round to look at Ianto who had slotted his gun into it's holster and was now casually rolling his shirt sleeves down and fixing his tie. Ianto fixed him with an exasperated look.

"I'm going _home_. You know, the place where the bed is, where the TV is? Not to mention the place where the bath is and the food." He was buttoning up his waistcoat and shrugging his jacket on, much to Jack's appreciation. "It's one in the morning and I'm _tired_. Are you coming home now, or do you have work to do?"

"I have to write up the report of what the Astorian told me. It shouldn't take too long, but it needs to be done for the briefing tomorrow." He sighed heavily and Ianto nodded once, walking towards Jack and tilting his chin up from where he'd been focusing on the floor. He kissed him once more and headed towards the door.

"Just make sure you come home soon." Jack smiled and nodded to him, watching as Ianto turned and headed round the corner and back up to the hub. He sighed heavily again and looked around him at the discarded weapons, deciding to clean them up now to save Ianto the job later.

It took him roughly twenty minutes to finish reloading and storing the pile of handguns, and he was quickly making his way back through the corridors to the hub, eager to write down everything he remembered. He ended up drawing half of the visions he had, finding it extremely hard to translate everything he'd seen into words.

The final product was three A4 sheets of notes, sketches and general outline of events. Jack sat for a moment and looked at the memo, feeling very proud of himself. It had been a while since he'd produced a report this detailed and he secretly couldn't wait to show everyone else. Of course, they were used to his messy, casual way of presenting information, but this was still neater and more informative than usual.

As he filed it away in his desk drawer, he started to hum to himself, glad to be pulling his coat on and locking up his office. He was also glad to see that the others had all left for the night, so he quickly went round the workstations and powered down the computers, setting his wrist-strap to synchronise with the rift alert system, stepping onto the invisible elevator and activating it. As he moved upwards, he pushed away all thoughts of calling the Doctor to stop a civil war. He would at least have the rest of the night without the worry.

As he stepped out into the crisp night air of Cardiff, he checked his watch again and smiled as he read 03:00, pleased that he would still have a good amount of time to watch Ianto sleeping. He was incredibly cute when he slept, especially if it was a night when he was talking to himself.


	38. Chapter 8: Sleeping

There's a little more fluff in here, for those who were feeling a bit deprived of it, and also a bit of character building. I'm trying to establish a link between Gwen and Ianto that can be put into action for my next section (or the section after next, not sure) as it's going to be pretty crucial what with the plot I have in mind.

There may also be a little juggling and confusion between all the chapters, as I'm adopting a fashion off a brilliant writer call **teachwriteslash** on Live Journal! She really is brilliant! (I must say, the post-it bit was from one of her fics in her AU Torchwood world, which I'm currently emmersed in- it was that which got me thinking about pre-torchwood3 Ianto in my new fic). Basically, starting with the next part, I'm going to write the entire thing, then post one chapter a day, to keep it coming smoothly. I expect there'll be a few missing days between parts, but hopefully this will see my fic successfully finished by the end of the summer!

I also want to apologise for the appaulling rate of updates at the moment. I currently have 3 weeks left of GCSE exams, then I'm home free and giddy! All update rates will pick up after that, I promise! I may be able to finish Part 4 before I get all the free time, so the juggling will be over the next few weeks. BAsically, the problem is writing the entirity of Part 5 in one go, which will next the first few days of my extended summer. I expect that's when I'll get things on track for this!

One last thing, I want to say a huge thankyou to: **Faramirlover, muppetmadness, ****-X-Loner-X-Starlight-X-, Space-Invader-x, hotflower901** and **Raddish-Earrings** for their continual support of the fic, and **EVERYONE** else who's been reviewing recently!

Well anyway, please enjoy and review, they really keep my morale up!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own anything... And shortly, Russel T. Davies won't either... I dunno who's running the Torchwood show next, but Moffat's taking over DW and that'll be yummy!

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_Chapter 8: Sleeping_

As Jack let himself quietly into the flat, he looked around him and sighed, feeling the stress and tension start to seep away. He'd forgotten, until now, how nice it was to have somewhere away from the constant worry and responsibility of the Hub. He walked through the living area and made a mental note to do some cleaning if he couldn't sleep. The flat had begun to sink into the slightly messy, over-lived-in state that Ianto assured him was perfectly normal. What disturbed Jack about it was how much different his attitude was from at the Hub.

At work, everyone knew that Ianto kept everything spotless, cleaning almost compulsively at times. In fact, he was so crucial to the state of the Hub that in their recent absence, Owen had apparently adopted a form of triage for the dishes. Using post-its of varying colour, he had 'slightly used', 'dirty', 'worse than dirty' and 'biohazard'. Jack admitted that it was reasonably witty, but gently reminded the medic that Ianto was on the mend, and should he find that mess in his kitchen, Owen could expect to find something disastrous in his coffee mug each morning. The threat had done the trick and Owen had faithfully cleaned the dishes until Ianto's return.

But now, as Jack saved a pile of DVDs from falling to the floor, shoving them into free slots on the stand, he was starting to revise his estimate on Ianto's need for the place to be tidy. As Owen was the messiest member of the team, Ianto had a perfectly good reason to stop talking to him or get revenge on him if he maintained a clean place. Of course, he would jump at any chance to hurt the medic, but that was just a given. Jack sighed heavily and shook his head, kicking his boots off and leaving them by the table along with his coat. Then he padded across the room to the bedroom door and pushed it open, peering round to see what state it was in. The scene in front of him made him smile.

Ianto was lying in bed, on Jack's side to be specific, with his head facing the window, an arm thrown out in front of him, palm up, and hanging off the edge of the bed. As usual, Ianto hadn't pulled the curtains completely, leaving a small gap for the moonlight to fall through. The silver glow hit Ianto's form across the hand sticking over the edge of the mattress, highlighting the scars on his wrist.

He took a moment to watch the way the pale scars glinted in the light, appreciating the beauty of it. He knew Ianto disliked the scars on his wrists and stomach, but the young man was fully accepting of them. _If only he could see them now…_ thought Jack, slightly captivated by the sight. He was jerked back to the bedroom by a soft murmuring, which made a grin crack across his face.

"Oh, snap…" He made sure to stay as quiet as possible as he quickly stripped down to his boxers and undershirt, heading over to find out just what Ianto would be saying tonight. He climbed onto Ianto's side of the bed and lay down next to him, kissing the back of his neck gently. As expected, Ianto twisted in his sleep until his forehead was ducked down and leaning on Jack's chest, his hands coming up to absently grip his shirt. Jack just smiled again and wrapped his arms around the young man, feeling calmer now than he had for days.

He had to wait a while for the murmuring to start up again, and when it did, it was mostly unintelligible, either malformed words on in Welsh, which Jack had never got the hang of. He mostly just enjoyed the sound of Ianto's voice when he slipped into his first language. It was mostly a relief that Ianto still had the capability of being innocent and naïve to the world around him, no matter how untrue it was when he was awake.

As the murmurings died down, Jack sighed lightly, pulling Ianto closer and closing his eyes, allowing himself to fall into a doze that would hopefully help speed up the process of healing the scars on his face.

* * *

A few hours later, Jack found himself shifting through the slow phases that came before complete consciousness. He groaned gently and disentangled himself from his still sleeping lover. He shuffled heavily across to the bathroom and flicked the light on, pushing the door to but not closing it. When he turned round and looked in the mirror over the sink, he almost yelled out in happiness.

His face was completely smooth again, with no dark blue veins to be seen. The only things that hadn't quite vanished were the three cigarette shaped burns, but three little circles, Jack could live with. He was so engrossed with looking at the right side of his face that he didn't notice the strong arms around his waist until he saw the bed headed owner of them over his shoulder in the mirror.

He spun round and kissed Ianto hard, putting almost all of his giddiness into it, only to reciprocated by the young man. When he pulled away, Ianto just chuckled sleepily and left the bathroom, heading towards the kitchen area to make the usual morning coffees. There was a strangled yelp and Jack rushed to the bedroom door to see Ianto glaring at him.

"Alphabetical order, Jack! NOT order of preference!" Jack looked to see him standing next to the DVD rack. Then he remembered shoving them all into place without thinking. So maybe Ianto _was_ as tidy-obsessed at home. He did his best to look chastised and moved over to correct his mistake. It took him several minutes, but he managed to put them all back in the same places.

He turned around and flopped into the big armchair, one of his favourite places in the flat. He was pleasantly surprised when he found Ianto curling up on his lap, handing him his coffee whilst taking a sip of his own. This sort of morning would never get old for Jack. He felt at peace and happy with Ianto, but not bored, as he'd soon found himself being with other partners. It was something he was glad was there. Extremely glad.

Ianto sat and sipped at his coffee, watching a spot on the wall as he collected his thoughts for the coming day. He wasn't sure exactly what was going to happen with the Astorian, but he got the feeling that it would be over relatively soon. He sighed and wriggled down a little until he could rest the side of his head on Jack's shoulder, eliciting a chuckle from the man and a comforting arm draped around his waist.

"Do we have to go in to work, Jack?" Ianto's request was a little mumbled, giving Jack the strong feeling of a little boy trying to get out of going to school.

"I though you liked work. God knows you pestered me enough about going back!" Ianto's reply was to just bury his nose into Jack's neck and sigh. "What's up, Yan?"

He shook his head and did his best to act like he'd gone to sleep. Jack was mildly amused by the situation, but his confusion was stopping him from acting on it. He used his free hand to pull Ianto's face up so he could look at him. The first thing he saw was a look that reminded him of a beaten puppy. No, that wasn't it, it was the look, that accompanied his tone earlier, of a boy who didn't want to go to school.

"Look, if Owen's bothering you, then-" Ianto frowned, cutting Jack off.

"'S not Owen…" Jack was blank, who else could Ianto not want to go to work because of? The young man sighed heavily and seemed to snap back to himself a little. "I'll give you a clue, it's not Tosh either."

"Has Myfanwy been acting up again?" Ianto came fully back to his normal persona and put his hand to the side of Jack's face, pushing it to the side roughly.

"Honestly, Jack. How could my pet pterodactyl ever stop me from coming to work?" He rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. "I'll give you another hint, it's not my best friend Janet either."

"Are you telling me that you want to stay at home because of _Gwen_?" Jack raised his eyebrows, his tone sceptical. Ianto just glowered at him.

"Well, we can't all be her bloody best friend, can we? She's not in love with everyone else!" Jack frowned again, taken aback as Ianto pushed himself from the chair and headed towards the bedroom. The moment he stepped through the door, he regretted what he'd said.

It was obvious to everyone on the team, except Jack it seemed, that Gwen was infatuated with the Captain. Since before he'd had disappeared, practically since the beginning (Ianto had seen the CCTV camera footage of the weapons training, he'd won the bet against Tosh and Owen that Jack would make the moves on the new girl within two weeks), Jack had harboured a soft spot for the woman, though Ianto knew it was nothing more than his typical compassion.

He had no argument with Jack over that, he didn't much care because he knew that his compassion came out in different ways for the rest of the team. With Tosh, it was the quiet companionship that the woman needed, Owen wanted to be treated like a doctor, like a human being, and Jack did just that. Suzie had needed someone to acknowledge her talents and respect her and she'd received it. Ianto had never been part of the machine in that way.

For that was what Torchwood Three was, a machine. The other four members were the moving parts, the cogs and wheels that were essential to the overall (if Ianto was vindictive, he would say that Gwen was the part that no one really knew the use of). Ianto was like the lubricating oil. He was essential in his own way, but he wasn't a part of the team. He never had been and if he was honest, he had no desire to be. He liked his position in the Hub, he liked being the outside man who could advise and suggest options for missions that he'd never carry out himself.

At least, he'd liked that before he's been forcibly dragged to Brecon Beacons. That trip had changed everyone's outlooks on their lives. That had been the turning point for everyone. It was the beginning of the casual shags and after hours meetings with Jack, and it had spurred Gwen on to have an affair with Owen. Tosh and himself had also come away from that with a feeling of security with each other, finding the presence of the other person like an anchor in their frenzied lives.

It was something they'd both needed, but it had only served to drive a wedge between themselves and Gwen and Owen. Jack was pretty much a free agent. On one hand, he had his medic and the 'attractive' young police officer, both brave and daring in the face of danger. On the other hand he had the reliable administrator, doubling as his part time shag, and his closest friend, the technological genius.

Had he realised that his team was segregating, he may have jumped in to stop it. As it stood now, the unconscious rivalry hadn't stopped until the Rift had broken, and they'd come together to override Jack's order, something which Ianto, Tosh and Owen had regretted later. He wasn't sure about Gwen, but then he barely talked to her. He'd harboured too much enmity towards her since the stunt she'd pulled of sitting with Jack for that week after his death.

Granted, he owed her for Jack's life, but he didn't want to. At the time, knowing Jack was alive was enough to balance out all the bad feelings, and the time without Jack on the team had been fine, all four of them pulling together to deal with Cardiff and the Rift. But knowing that Gwen had been the one to mourn him privately, the one who'd kissed him and brought him back… well, that just made his stomach churn. Ianto was well aware that by that point in their 'relationship', he was already in love with Jack.

In all the bustle of the past few weeks, Ianto had barely had time to think about Gwen, let alone remember his previous reasons for disliking her. However, since her outburst about not going on the stake out, and Ianto's now replenished sleep bank, he was starting to get that niggling doubt in his mind as to what she really though about him. At a push, he would feel like gloating over Jack, but he knew that it would hurt her, and whilst he found it hard to like her, he didn't want to hurt her like that. Besides, Jack wasn't someone to fight over, he wasn't a possession. He was a human being, an immortal one but a human nonetheless, and did whatever the hell he wanted. Ianto was just glad that it was him the Captain had decided on.

By the time his thoughts had carried him to that point, he was tightening up his tie and pulling on a waistcoat. Before he did anything else, he went back through to the living area to find Jack sitting in the exact same position. He walked over to him and perched on one of the arms, bringing a hand up to stroke the man's cheek gently. Jack turned his gaze to Ianto's and gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Look, Jack… I don't have a problem with Gwen, and if I do, it's stupid and I'll get over it." Jack frowned a little again and Ianto felt the need to clarify, but couldn't explain it proper. "I just get the feeling that she doesn't consider me part of the team, because I wasn't when she started."

"Ianto, you're part of the team. You always have been. To be honest, you pull rank on her, but don't let that secret get out, you're extremely valuable to me as a boss where you are now." Ianto leant down and kissed him on the forehead, recognising that they were about to get into problems with distinguishing home from work.

"We can talk about this later." Jack nodded, understanding what Ianto was thinking. He pulled the young man down for a deep, languid kiss and when he managed to release himself, Ianto found his lover's usual confidence back in place before he pushed himself off and headed to the bedroom to get changed. Jack paused in the doorway and found him looking at a spot on the wall, still sitting on the arm of the chair.

"Just for the record," Ianto looked around at him, "I would've preferred it to have been you who brought me back… Though I understand you didn't exactly have a say in the matter."

He smiled at the young man, who managed to smile through the tide of emotions that had just washed through him, watching as Jack left the room to get ready. For fifteen minutes, Ianto busied himself with cleaning up the living area, and by the time Jack emerged, fully dressed and ready for the day ahead, the flat looked a lot more presentable.

"Right then, lets go. We have a team meeting later, and I have to make a phone call." Jack's eyes flashed with excitement as he grinned at the young man, who followed him out of the door, bewildered.


	39. Chapter 9: Photographs

Hmmm... I like this chapter. A little more fluffiness, which I feel I've been lacking, and more progress with the storyline! I'm so rotten to you with cliffhangers! Thought hopefully the next chapter will be written and uploaded within the next few days :)

I hope you all enjoy, comments are love as always!

**Disclaimer**: (Do I really have to keep writing them?) I don't own the stuff below, it's all belongings of Russel T. Davies, though if they were mine, I'd keep them locked up in my own private drawer!

* * *

_Chapter 9: Photographs_

The clock on Tosh's computer flashed 07:13 at Ianto in bright red digits as he turned it on. As usual, hers was the first workstation he powered up, so he could trade the Rift alert uplink from Jack's wrist strap to a proper system as quickly as possible. Seeing as Tosh was the only one who actually cared about her computer and made sure it was kept up to date with memory and CPUs, it was Tosh's computer that the team used to run the Rift alert program.

Ianto smiled to himself as he tidied the woman's desk a little, feeling a surge of affection at the sight of a photo frame containing a picture of the team the year before. Ianto stood a looked at it for a while, remembering being yelled at by Owen as he didn't want to be in it. Of course, Ianto himself wasn't in it himself, he'd been taking the photo for everyone. Jack hadn't realised what was going on, so he was leaned back on his arms, smiling to himself, Tosh looking at him and grinning, as if the two had just shared a joke that Gwen and Owen didn't quite get.

They'd been out in a field as the sun started to set, on one of Jack's team building exercises, before the disaster with the cannibals, and the team had been sprawled across the grass, around a camp fire that Jack had somehow managed to get started in the space of roughly five minutes. Tosh had been sat clutching her knees to her chest with Jack lying back next to her, Gwen and Owen cross legged on the other side of the fire with Owen scowling into the flames and Gwen laughing at him. All of their faces were caught in a blend of soft sunlight and harsh fire light, the sky starting to bleed purples and pinks in the sky, contrasting amazingly with the rich green colour of the grass.

If he had to say so, Ianto was proud of the photo he'd taken. None of them had posed, but it showed a team dynamic that seemed to have corroded and cracked since Jack's departure and reappearance. With a sigh, Ianto propped the frame back up and headed through the hub to the coffee machine, fixing Jack an industrial strength drink to get him through the first hour or so.

He finished filling the white and blue striped mug and carried it through to Jack's office. As he walked in, Jack stood up and walked round the desk, taking the coffee mug off the young man and pulling him into a kiss, one hand around Ianto's waist and the other on the young man's cheek. Ianto reciprocated the actions by moving his arms around his lover and kissing him back with fervour.

Jack noticed it almost immediately and chuckled into the kiss, making Ianto smile. Jack's hands moved then, sliding round to unbutton Ianto's waistcoat, starting the slowly, teasing process of making his way to the skin underneath. Ianto growled lightly in appreciation, but pulled back a little, breaking the kiss for a moment.

"Jack, the others will be here in twenty minutes." Ianto's voice was low, obviously not wanting to say what he had, but Jack just smiled knowingly at him.

"For a start," He was pulling the young man's tie free from his neck by the point, "when have Owen and Gwen ever been on time?" As Ianto pondered the answer, Jack opened the top few buttons of the young man's shirt.

"Tosh?" He didn't relish the thought of the woman walking in to work to find him and Jack having sex. However, the statement just got another mysterious smile off Jack. "What've you done?"

"Well," He pulled the young man into another blistering kiss, "Her laptop's alarm will go off two hours late." He punctuated each word with a kiss on Ianto's jaw line, steadily moving down his neck to his collar bone. "I'm sure you'll agree that Tosh, of all people, deserves a lie in."

Just as Ianto was about to agree, Jack turned his last kiss on the young man's shoulder into a bite, making him bring his lover's face sharply upwards, kissing him furiously. Ianto made quick work of slipping Jack's suspenders off and unbuttoning his shirt, matching Jack's controlling air, making the whole thing like a battle that neither one of them wanted to win.

* * *

An hour and two showers later, Ianto was heading back to Jack's office, fully dressed, with two new cups of coffee. Round one had been good- in the office, albeit in various different places, round two had been almost inevitable- the first shower had evolved from Jack's plaintive 'but we need to save water!' to something which made the whole thing rather redundant. Round three had been even better, and, to Ianto's satisfaction, it had been his idea, not Jack's. Quite how they'd ended up in the greenhouse was anyone's guess.

Ianto privately thought it had stemmed from the time when Jack found him sitting in there, suit jacket discarded, tie off, sleeves rolled up and shirt slightly unbuttoned, doing some brief observations for Owen. When Jack had turned up to see what he was doing, Ianto had made it quite clear that he was bored of doing Owen's readings. He smiled at the memory of the evening as he headed back to Jack's office with the coffees, walking in to find Jack sitting in his desk chair, turned away from the door and staring at something on the wall, rubbing his neck in the way Ianto had come to realise he did when he was thinking.

"What've you done now?" Jack's smile spread to a mischievous grin as he swivelled around and held up several sheets of paper, clipped together at the top. Ianto reached out for it reluctantly. "If this is a list, I'm not going to-"

"A list? Me? Never…" Jack continued to smile disconcertingly. He was well aware of the secret list in his desk drawer, the one he kept locked.

However, as far as Ianto himself was aware, Jack didn't know that the young man had discovered, after a few minutes of searching during a fit of boredom, he'd found that Jack kept the key in an old filing cabinet behind the desk. The cabinet worked on a very basic method of needing three numbers in the correct order to open it. The lock wasn't nearly as dramatic as it looked and all Ianto had needed to do was read the numbers off when the cabinet was open, something which he'd done a few days before, out of a rather more painful bout of boredom during one of Jack's rare working sprees, and memorise them.

And memorising was something Ianto was a pro at, so when the time came to try opening the cabinet, he'd been in within three minutes of starting. The key was held to the back of the drawer with a magnet, and he'd made sure to note the exact position, just in case. When he'd used the key to open the drawer, he did it carefully, to make sure Jack didn't have any alarms attached.

He found that Jack wasn't as cautious as he made out. When the drawer was open, he'd found an old, folded piece of paper which something told him not to disturb, as well as some trinkets; small things from his travels, a necklace that had belonged to some long gone lover, perhaps a wife, and a multitude of pieces of paper.

Ianto had never intended to read or pry into the actual contents, past knowing what they were, but when he saw his name scrawled at the top of one of the pieces of paper, he couldn't resist looking at it. He quickly deduced that it was a list of Jack's ideal shagging situations, and he was surprised to find number of perfectly normal things to do, as well as the typical 'in the boardroom' -which was one of the first places they'd ended up after the catastrophe with Suzie- and 'in the interrogation room' –which they'd done with the whole role play and handcuffs deal. Then there had been the disturbing ones that he would never agree to, like 'on the elevator slab' and 'in the autopsy bay' – there were some places that you just didn't mess around with.

However, the last one, the one that made Ianto fold the paper back up, close the drawer and put the key back, was the one which had solidified Jack's complete sincerity. '_Wherever Ianto wants to'. _It was also the reason that he'd never mentioned breaking into the drawer. He didn't realise that what was in that drawer were the things that truly meant the most to his lover; wedding photos, Rose's old necklace which he'd picked up one morning on the TARDIS because she'd dropped it, a picture or two of the Doctor, in both regenerations that he'd known him.

Ianto was snapped out of the past by a humming noise, and he looked up to find Jack smiling to himself and whistling a familiar tune, but one Ianto couldn't quite place. He looked sideways at the young man and chuckled before gesturing to the papers in Ianto's hand.

"I need you to copy enough for one each." It was only then that Ianto looked down at the papers. He frowned slightly before realising what he was holding.

_I knew there was a reason we stopped letting him write reports…_ Ianto ground his teeth together. With anyone else, it would be all text, in a logical order and presentable. At best, Ianto could type up his reports and print them, but on occasions like this, he had to either redo it himself, or simply photocopy it, risking the gloating of Owen. He looked back at Jack to find him with his hands behind his head, smiling contentedly.

It struck him then that Jack was pleased with himself. The strange expression on his face was a nervous pride in the work he'd done, something that was surprisingly rare for him. He usually analysed and pulled apart everything he did, so this was something special to him.

Which was why Ianto simply smiled in return and nodded his head, turning around and heading off to do some quick turn around on the report, photocopying and adding his own notes to his copy so he could direct Jack to the next section if his train-of-thought style report lead him astray.

* * *

"What the bloody-" Ianto stomped on Owen's foot hard as he was about to comment on Jack's report. Ianto felt like he needed to support Jack, no matter how much he agreed with the medic, who was currently scowling at him. Ianto just shot him a look which clearly said _'Do not fuck with this tea-boy today'_. Something about the way Ianto was free of his suit jacket with his shirt sleeves rolled up, this early in the day, made Owen believe there was suitable reinforcement to the glare to follow it's orders.

Owen and the two woman managed to quell their fears about the report as Jack delivered his usual, informative progress meeting on the case. Twenty minutes later, after all the points were covered, Jack dismissed them. Everyone was feeling a little uncomfortable about keeping someone from such a volatile race in the cells, but they trusted that Jack knew what he was doing when he said 'I'm dealing with it'.

Ianto looked up to see Jack giving him one of his usual knowing smiles as the others left, receiving a small smile and a raised eyebrow in return. Ignoring Jack's slight growl of appreciation as he left the room, he went to compile a report that could be submitted to the archives. He didn't often have the chance to do something as challenging and creative as this, and the slightly more adventurous side of him relished at the idea. He headed up to the Tourist Office and the small room behind the desk where his station was set up. He settled down in the desk chair and promptly opened up his photo manipulation software, a publishing program and the scanner options. Placing the first sheet of the report on the scanner bed, he set to work.

* * *

Jack shuffled around the hub, in an unusually good mood. He was headed back to his office, but in a round about way that had taken him past the kitchen area (where he'd retrieved himself a jam doughnut left over from the day before) and making a slow way back to the comfort of his desk and chair.

As he entered the room, he closed the door casually behind him and made his way to the cabinet behind his desk, opening the top draw and reaching back to get the key stuck to the back. He pushed the drawer to and dropped into his desk chair, reaching down to unlock the desk drawer containing his private belongings, similing to himself as he remembered the list in there, the one he was determined to complete.

He also remembered how, a few weeks ago, Ianto had suggested several situations he'd jotted down on said list. He had a strong suspicion that his lover had found a way into his drawer. However, he also knew that nothing apart from the list had been touched, for which he was thankful. He wouldn't have been angry with Ianto, just a little vulnerable. The contents of that drawer were practically physical parts of his soul.

He also wasn't quite ready to let Ianto know that he'd kept a several of the man's post-its notes, which he'd left on piles of Jack's paperwork, or some food or drink that would mysteriously turn up in his office after a long and tedious trip somewhere. He felt slightly foolish keeping the notes full of the man's dry wit, sarcasm and general pleasantries, especially as he lived with the man who gave them to him.

Pushing aside the thoughts and ignoring the blush he could feel creeping over his cheeks, he delved through the assortment of papers and pulled out a folded slip of paper torn from a UNIT notebook. With one hand, he smoothed it out on his desk and picked up the phone on the corner of his desk with the other. He reached over and carefully dialled the number, sitting back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk and listening for the tone.

After the phone managed to ring five and a half times, he heard a scrambling noise that made him smile and a familiar voice drifted through the receiver.

"Jack?"


	40. Chapter 10: Visitors

Well guys, this is the last for this part, but never fear! I'll be working on the next part straight away, and I should be starting the posting (one chapter a day, possibly every two days) as soon as it's finished, hopefully next friday.

I'm sorry about this one, I just couldn't resist a bit of cood old fashioned dialogue, it's been a while since I got to write some properly (too many timed essays for GCSEs I think). Hopefulyl I haven't over done it, but yeah, please:

Enjoy and review!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the below. Characters, space ships and location are all by Russel T. Davies!

* * *

_Chapter 10: Visitors_

Owen was bored. No, he was more than bored, he was practically comatose. He needed something to do and he needed it fast. He briefly considered trying to hunt down his tennis ball, but Ianto had confiscated it a few days earlier, claiming that the constant thudding noises as he bounced it off the wall behind his desk were disturbing Myfanwy.

_Overgrown bloody bird…_ Owen scowled as, right on cue, the pterodactyl swooped out of her cave and circled the high ceiling of the hub several times. He settled for sighing heavily and tapping his fingers on his desk. He hated to say it, but he wanted some work to do. Even work was better than feeling like this.

He looked over to Tosh, about to ask whether she needed any help in a rare display of helpfulness, but found her watching Jack's office with interest. Latching onto this, he spun in his seat and looked as well. The captain had been in there for over thirty minutes now, on a call to someone. He turned back to Tosh and found that Gwen was looking over from her station as well, and Ianto was heading over with a tray of coffees.

"So what do you think's going on?" Gwen had stood up and was walking over to the other three as Owen directed his question to anyone who'd answer.

"I don't know, but he's not yelling so it isn't UNIT." Gwen shrugged and perched on the edge of Owen's desk as Ianto handed out the coffees, leaving the tray on Tosh's desk and taking his own.

"I'm hazarding a guess at a personal call… Martha?" Tosh shrugged, looking thoroughly blank about the situation, intrigue glittering in her eyes. "Do you know who it is Ianto?"

"Probably the wife," he said with non-chalently, taking a sip of his coffee. When he looked up, he found three pairs of incredulous eyes on him. "What? It was a joke! I'm known for making them every so often."

He rolled his eyes as Tosh and Gwen snorted at him, Owen merely looking disappointed. Ianto could tell that he was secretly dying for a new scandal to sink his teeth into. As if just to pacify Owen's restlessness, Tosh's computer screen started to hum and flash, a Rift alert lighting up the centre with a red oblong and black letters.

"Looks like it's your lucky day, Owen." Ianto placed his coffee down and twisted to help Tosh identify what had happened.

"It looks like a series of small objects, scattered through the docklands… Simple operation to locate and collect, but it might take a while to find them, seeing as it's the docks, and half of them are pulled down and in ruins." Tosh transferred the data quickly to her PDA whilst Ianto jotted down the situation with a final question of 'who?'. Once that was finished, he stood up and headed to Jack's office, knocking lightly on the door before stepping in and slipping the piece of paper silently onto the desk.

Jack read it, carrying on with his conversation at the same time, nodding to himself, laughing and adding the occasional 'no, really?' or 'yeah, I remember'. He rummaged on his desk for a pen and jotted down his answer, nodding to Ianto as he handed it back. Ianto smiled and left the office, reading the note.

"Jack says you, Gwen and Owen should go get them." Ianto had made his way over to Tosh's workstation. "The SUV's good to go, I'll stay on comms if you need any help."

He smiled warmly at Tosh, who smiled back and gave him a brief hug before slipping her coat on.

"I'll check back with you every so often with a progress report for Jack." She turned and flicked her hair out of her coat collar, beckoning to Gwen and calling to Owen to hurry up. Owen emerged from the autopsy bay carrying a first aid kit, just in case, and Gwen headed over. Ianto caught her by the arm as Tosh and Owen headed towards the door.

"Good luck." He smiled awkwardly at her, but she gathered what he was trying to say and winked at him, patting his hand lightly.

"We'll be fine, try not to let Jack completely re-write the archives… I doubt that even you could decipher them then!" Ianto laughed in reply and let her go, waving as his three team-mates left the hub to the sound of the siren and the flashing light. In a minute or so, he was standing alone by Tosh's computer, still flashing his alert. Myfanwy squawked loudly over head, making him snort gently as she asserted her presence in the hub.

"I love you too, girl." Ianto smiled to himself and went to clean up the coffee mugs the team had left behind. He drained his own mug before putting it on the tray with the other three and heading to the kitchen area, cleaning the mugs out and setting them out to dry. He quickly made Jack a coffee and headed back. When he returned to the main area of the hub, he found Jack sitting in Tosh's chair and smiling to himself, rubbing his chin with one hand and staring down into the basin.

"Who was that then?" He came up behind the man and placed the coffee next to him on the table. As he tried to pull back, he found his hand, which had been resting on Jack's shoulder, clasped in one of Jack's own. Ianto smiled to himself and moved his second hand to Jack's other shoulder, running his palms gently over the top of Jack's back, eliciting a growl of appreciation.

"Just a friend." Ianto knew that there would be a knowing smile on his face and rolled his eyes at the Captain's obsessive need for an air of mystery. Ianto squeezed his shoulders once more and let go, moving round to sit back on Tosh's desk, looking down into the basin, following Jack's gaze. There was something different about it that he couldn't quite put a finger on. He was vaguely aware of Jack downing his coffee in two mouthfuls, but he didn't pay much attention.

A tingling on the back of his neck told him something was about to happen. Sure enough, there was a faded sound that slowly became more prominent, a grating whirring sound that got steadily louder. Soon, it was accompanied by a blue, flashing light and a sturdy blue wooden box. It was the TARDIS.

When Ianto looked round to fix Jack with an accusing stare, he found the man was gone, already down by the newly materialised Police Box. Jack was waiting for the man inside to emerge, bouncy slightly on his feet as he felt himself coiled up with anticipation. Seeing the Doctor always did this to him. He glanced round at Ianto, now leaning on the railing round by the workstations, opening his mouth to make sure the young man was alright with this. Ianto nodded before he could say anything. He didn't mind Jack being this excited and he didn't mind the Doctor turning up again. Now he was better, he felt a strange desire to meet the man properly.

After the grating siren finally died away, Jack turned back to the TARDIS, arms folded across his chest as he waited for the door to open. Moments later, it did so, revealing the dishevelled, grinning Doctor, dressed in his usual wrinkled suit with his hair sticking up at angles that made bed-head look tidy.

"Jack!" He stepped forwards and shook Jack's hand vigorously, beaming at him. "It's great to see you again."

"Same to you, Doctor, though I wish it were under better circumstances." Jack grimaced and the Doctor just waved his hand.

"We can deal with work later, first I want to check Ianto to see whether he's completely rid of that toxin." The Doctor leaned around Jack and waved at the young man, who'd looked up when he'd heard his name. Ianto waved in reply and smiled before turning back to the computer screen. "I'm assuming you got the number off Martha?"

"Yup, just before you showed up last time." Jack grinned and the Doctor nodded in appreciation. He'd always got the feeling that Torchwood should be able to contact him if Earth was about to be destroyed again. He'd hoped that Jack wouldn't be as dumb as Yvonne Hartman, but his team almost had been. It was a good job Jack was immortal.

"Doctor?" Someone new stepped out of the TARDIS, a someone who Jack had never met before. The woman was different to the Doctor's last two companions, and Jack instantly knew that he was going to like her. After all, the Doctor had a wonderful taste in travelling partners.

"I'm Captain Jack Harkness and who are _you_?" He smiled at the woman and stepped towards her, offering his hand.

"Stop it…" The order came from two directions, the Doctor next to him and Ianto over at Tosh's desk, neither looking up from where they'd been looking beforehand. Jack just gaped. He hadn't thought that the Doctor would remember the events at the end of the universe, and he definitely hadn't thought that Ianto would pick up on the tone of his voice, no matter how many times he'd used it on him. The woman just snorted in amusement, a heartening sound that snapped Jack out of his shock.

"My name's Donna, Donna Noble." She smiled, curtseying slightly, much to Jack's amusement.

"Pleased to meet you, Donna." Jack smiled back and glanced round to see Ianto heading down the steps to greet their two guests. "You see Ianto, when people introduce themselves, they say their _first_ name first."

"If it's good enough for James Bond, sir, it's good enough for me." The young man just walked past Jack, heading straight to Donna to shake hands with her and smile apologetically for Jack's behaviour.

"This is Ianto Jones. Ianto cleans up after us and gets us everywhere on time." Ianto suppressed a groan as Jack's typical introduction for him made an appearance. He still remembered the day Jack had thought it up, he'd been immensely pleased with himself for days. Every person who'd been interviewed for the position Gwen now filled had been introduced to him in the same way.

"Pleased to meet you, Ianto." Ianto smiled and rolled his eyes before retreating back upstairs, not failing to miss Jack's next statement.

"And he looks good in a suit." Jack turned briefly to grin at him, but the young man just raised an eyebrow.

"Careful. That's harassment, sir." He winked at Jack, something which Donna failed to missed, and carried on heading back to Tosh's workstation, where he quickly got back into locating the items, in case the team should need his help later. Jack kept his eyes on Ianto, noticing the smile that crept across the young man's lips as he realised he was still being watched.

"Are those two… you know…" Donna leaned over to the Doctor, motioning to Jack and Ianto.

"What? No… not really… I mean, possibly… yes, yes they are." The Doctor looked up and caught the expression on Jack's face as he watched the young man. He knew that Jack was more than serious about Ianto, but he still found it a little strange that he, Captain Jack Harkness, was practically domesticated. The mere thought of Jack doing the vacuuming almost made him laugh.

"Typical, all the decent men are on the other bus!" Donna sighed and shook her head slightly.

"Or Timelords…" The Doctor shrugged as he headed away, moving towards the stairs that would take him round to Ianto, wondering what the man was working on. Donna simply smiled at the parting words.

"Shall we?" Jack had turned back to her, holding his arm out for her to take. She laughed, silently surprised that the notorious Jack Harkness, the man that the Doctor had warned her of as soon as he put the mobile phone down, was so polite.

"Don't mind if I do!" She linked her arm through his and they headed up to join the other two men, who were now involved in a fast and detailed conversation about things that Donna had never heard of and that Jack had never understood. Jack just smiled fondly at the sight of the men, glad that two of the most important people in his abnormally long life were getting along so well.

"So is this headquarters? Like a secret base, or something?" The woman snorted softly as if she'd made a joke, but Jack turned to look at her with raised eyebrows. She stopped laughing straight away and gawped at him.

"Really?" Jack just nodded. "Does that mean you have some rabid attack force to guard it?"

"Well," Jack debated telling her about the hordes of weevils in the cells, but stuck to only telling her about the two creatures that made up the sixth and seventh teams members. "We have three more team members, a guard dinosaur and Janet, if that counts."

"Who's Janet?" Donna looked up at him in confusion.

"She's a weevil." Jack and Donna both turned to look at the Doctor in surprise, who'd twisted his head round to looked at them. "A weevil is a carnivorous alien scavenger that likes to prey on the good people of Cardiff when they can. Mostly, they just scavenge for food in the sewers, but sometimes, the pull of Jack's charm just overtakes them and they come topside. I do believe Janet was captured quite a while ago?"

"Yup, I just didn't have the heart to toss her back out. I'd miss the late night talks too much." Jack grinned as Ianto snorted quietly. They both remembered that their code phrase for spending the night together, after Lisa and the Brecon Beacons incident, had been 'late night talks'. Not very inventive, but it had done the job.

"Right, why don't I make you two a cup of coffee?" Ianto stood up and enquired after the suddenly beaming Doctor and Donna, looking a little less enthusiastic.

"We'll have whatever Jack's having, no sense in you doing three different things when one's good enough." Ianto nodded and headed off to the kitchen area to get the drinks. As he set the coffee machine going, he heard footsteps behind him, and was aware of the presence before the arms wrapped around his waist from behind. He smiled at the comforting feel of his lover's body pressed against his, the body heat warming his back and soothing some of the tension in it.

"You sure you're okay with this?" Jack's voice was low and gentle.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ianto twisted in his arms, amused surprise pulling his face into a smile.

"Well, it's just last time he was here, you weren't exactly seeing eye to eye over things." Jack looked a little uncomfortable, as if bringing up the Doctor's last visit would make Ianto lash out at him. Instead, the young man laughed and captured his mouth in a slow kiss, filling the Captain with reassurance.

"I wasn't exactly myself then, Jack, don't worry about it." He pulled back and smiled, pleased to see that Jack was smiling again. He hated seeing Jack unsure of himself, it was just too contradictory to the man he knew and loved. Sure, Jack had bad days, he had days when he couldn't face the world alone, but he was never unsure of himself. He just needed a little support at the right times.

Ianto turned at the sound of the coffee machine finishing it's chore and poured four mugs of coffee and topping them all up with milk before holding two out for Jack to take.

"You may as well make yourself useful, sir." Jack took the mugs, a look of confusion on his face with only served to make Ianto laugh at him. "Go on, don't keep them waiting!"

Jack gave him one last look before turning and heading back to Tosh's workstation. Ianto waited for a moment before picking up Jack's striped blue and white mug and his own, following the Captain down to their guests, bracing himself for the briefing that Jack would be giving and the Doctor's promised medical check. He'd just about had enough of doctors, but this check up would be inevitable. Jack valued the man's opinion too much for Ianto to refuse, and privately, he wanted an expert assessment on whether he was completely out of the woods or not.

* * *

**_Part 5 Sneak Preview_**

_The Doctor met the silvery orbs with a look of curiosity. "You've seen me before... why have you seen me before?"_

_Donna just frowned at him, not really understanding him. She never really had, so it wasn't something that disturbed her unduely. Jack looked at him with a vague impression of what was going on. It was Ianto, standing by the door to the vaults, hands in pockets, who figured out what was going on. He looked from the creture, to the Doctor to Jack and repeated the prcoess a couple of times. Finally, after several long minutes of silence, he decided to voice his idea._

_"I think I know what's going on." His tone was casual, bringing the Doctor's attention from the Astorian's eyes to the Welshman standing by the door. He looked at Ianto with a mixture of interest, excitement and intrigue. "It's pretty simple if you think about it..."_


	41. Part 5 :: Chapter 1: Medical Checkups

Okay, so here it is. I confess I've only written the first couple of chapters (I'm finding it hard to get enough time to sit down and write. I promise to get a steadier writing pace after my induction afternoon at my new school on wednesday!)

I hope you like it! Let Part 5 commence!

**Disclaimer**: I own only the alien species. All the characters and locations are property of Russel T. Davies and their respective actors/actresses.

* * *

**And So It Begins... Again: Part 5**

_Chapter 1: Medical Check-up_

"Ianto," The Doctor looked up at him, grinning as approached carrying his own and Jack's coffee, "this really is as good as I remembered it!"

He sighed appreciatively and downed the rest of the drink as Ianto handed Jack his mug and blew on his own coffee, sending the steam curling off in different directions. He was just about to take a sip when the Doctor grabbed his arm and started pulling him away from the desk.

"Come on, Mr. Jones, I want to do those scans now." The Doctor said jovially as he dragged Ianto backwards down the stairs to the sound of Jack and Donna laughing.

"Can my coffee come with me?" Ianto asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm as he fought to keep his drink from spilling. It was a huge testament to his balancing skills that he didn't lose a drop of it.

"Sure, sure," The Doctor replied as they headed through the doorway into the TARDIS and across to the main console. He sat Ianto in one of the chairs and headed around to the opposite side of the column, already immersed in the dials and screens. "Just sit there for a minute will you, I need to find… Ah-ha! Here it is, hold your hand out!"

Grinning like a crazed scientist, the Doctor headed back towards him, holding what looked like a metal notebook connected to the main console by a series of spaghetti-like wires. He flipped the device open, revealing a touch sensor that covered an entire side. Without warning, he grabbed Ianto hand and pushed it onto the pad, listening to the whirring sound that the interaction caused.

"Right. Just keep your hand there until the scans are finished." Ianto raised his eyebrows as the Doctor placed the device on the seat next to Ianto, so his hand could rest more comfortably. All Ianto could think to do was have a mouthful of his coffee as he watched the Doctor circle the console, checking various readings and screens.

"What exactly are you doing?" Ianto finally asked, several minutes later.

"Hmm?" The man looked up, his glasses slipping a little down his nose. "Oh, right, that. Well, I'm not actually doing anything, I just know that it looks more professional if I look like I'm doing something."

"That makes sense…" His face split into a grin that was so contagious that Ianto could help but smile in return.

"So, Ianto, how on earth did you manage to domesticate Jack?" The Doctor came round to face Ianto, leaning back on the central column and folding his arms, a lopsided smile on his face. Ianto just snorted into his coffee lightly.

"Domesticated?" He raised his eyebrows questioningly. Jack was the least domestic person he knew. It was a wonder that the captain's lack of domestic skills hadn't forced the two of them apart by now.

"Yeah, you know… Not flirting with everything that moves," Ianto gave him an extremely sarcastic look, which made him retract his statement, "Okay, fair enough, he's still flirting, but not with the intention of a night in bed. And you actually got him to carry those cups of coffee in for us!"

"Yeah, I guess that part's changed." Ianto drained his mug and smiled to himself at the memories of the little things Jack had taken to doing for him, just small things that made a world of difference. "To be honest, I think it's since he came back, you know, from that year away with you."

The Doctor stiffened at that, his face falling a little as he fixed Ianto with a curious stare. "He told you about that then?"

"Yes." Ianto replied, his voice suddenly a whisper under the intensity of the Doctor's gaze. "The night he came back, he talked for hours. I'd never seen him like that before. He was still Jack, but he was different."

Ianto looked up at the Doctor properly, matching his look with a sudden need to be protective of Jack. They sat and looked at each other for a moment before the Doctor sighed and reached up to remove his glasses.

"I'm sorry for what happened to him, Ianto, to him and Martha." The boyish excitement and exuberance was gone, in its place was a world weary wisdom that seemed both too old and too young for him. "They both suffered horribly that year because I didn't see what was happening soon enough."

"I don't think I'm sorry." Ianto muttered, more to himself than the other man, but the Doctor looked up at him, intrigued. "I mean that I'm not sorry for the change in Jack. I wish he'd never had to suffer those terrible things, but I'm not sorry for how he's changed. Since he came back, he's been happier, he hasn't had that darkness in his eyes. I think that's because of you. Whatever answers he was looking for, he got them to some degree and I think he was able to move on after that. He isn't waiting anymore."

The Doctor considered Ianto's words, nodding faintly as both of them sat and waited for the scans to carry out. Ianto silently wondered whether he'd said too much, whether he'd overstepped his mark and told the man in front of him something that Jack wouldn't want him to know. Personally, Ianto felt he should be thanking him for returning Jack, but he didn't know how to do it.

They remained in that amiable silence for a few more minutes before the console behind the Doctor started to beep and the screens began to flash, showing that the scan was finished. The man jumped up and quickly read through the results, a grin starting to grow on his face as he approached the bottom.

"Well I never! Ianto Jones, you're made of stronger stuff than any other human I've ever met!" He grinned his crazed lunatic grin at the young man again as Ianto looked on in confusion, watching as he removed the device, folded it up and shoved it in a compartment. "Arkan VI, that's very potent stuff… You must've had a huge dose for it still to be rattling around your system! Luckily for you, the dose that's still there is at a level in which it's a mild restorative."

"Which means?" Ianto watched as he began to circle the console again, looking at the various screens.

"Well, I'd say that by the looks of it, you have a few months of increased healing, stamina and alertness ahead of you." He stopped, facing Ianto with his hands in his pockets, and beamed at him again.

"That doesn't exactly sound bad." Ianto mused, before a thought hit him full on. "Could we possibly not tell Jack about this part of the diagnosis though?"

"Uhhh," The Doctor's face fell momentarily as he frowned in thought before the realisation dawned on him, his face cracking in two again with a grin and a bark of laughter. "Of course, this will be our little secret."

He winked at Ianto as the young man stood up and headed towards the door of the TARDIS, following him with a whispered 'Bye, I'll be back to check on you later' to the central column behind him. It was a little saying he had; look after your TARDIS and your TARDIS will look after you.

Ianto carried his empty mug back round to Tosh's workstation, where Jack was sitting, chatting animatedly to Donna who was sitting on the sofa across from him.

"You should have seen him! Honestly, there we were, faced with hundreds, if not _thousands_, of angry mutants, all out for our heads, and he was pointing that screwdriver at them, claiming it to be a weapon." Jack grinned and looked up at Ianto, catching him around the waist and pulling him down onto his lap as the young man was caught off balance. "I was just telling Donna about the time I first met the Doctor, did I ever tell you that one?"

"Yes, sir. He traded your sonic blaster for a banana?" Ianto raised an eyebrow and smiled crookedly at Jack, who just smiled in return.

"Bananas! I like bananas, bananas are good, a great source of potassium!" The Doctor had sauntered up the stairs, hands shoved deep in his pockets, a content smile plastered across his face.

"Is he okay now, Doc?" Jack twisted around and looked over at the man, concern on his face.

"Yup! I doubt he's ever been better." The Doctor grinned again and winked at Ianto, who cleared his throat and jumped up, collecting the mugs from the coffee table and whisking them away to the kitchen before Jack could question him about the statement. Jack raised his eyebrow questioningly, but the Doctor just continued to smile at him. He wasn't saying any more on the subject.

"Okay, lets get down to business then." Jack was suddenly serious, standing up and motioning to his office waiting for the other two before heading in behind them and sitting down behind his desk. He watched the Doctor carefully as he inspected the coral sitting under his desk lamp, the captain suddenly nervous that he would be reprimanded.

"That's one happy piece of TARDIS coral, you're a good owner Jack!" The Doctor sat back in his chair and smiled placidly at him, who let out an unconsciously held breath before looking at Donna and then his friend again.

"I wouldn't have called you back here normally, but there's a much bigger problem than a few hunters taking out my people." Jack immediately slipped into his work-mode. Now was the time for business. Donna frowned at him, but Jack continued, making sure to address both of them. The Doctor would no doubt need the woman later on, even if just for emotional support. She needed to know what he was going to be dealing with. "There's a diplomatic crisis on Astor; the tribes are ready to start up the war again."

The Doctor's face was filled with alarm. "You have got to be kidding me! That agreement took decades to complete! I mean, I've never agreed with the terms of the democracy, I've actively tried to change them, but they're fighting themselves?"

He brought a hand up to rub his face and both Donna and Jack recognised the look of deep concentration on his features.

"What're these… people doing then?" Donna looked up at Jack with concern on her face. Jack just smiled wryly at her.

"I could show you if you want, but it's extremely unpleasant, especially when the bodies defrost." Donna's confusion didn't lift, so Jack carried on. "They come to Earth every fifty of our years and freeze innocent humans to death, extracting the hearts, eyes and tongues before marking them with a symbol. Each clan of Astor sends a hunter, the one who brings back the best bounty earns their clan the leadership of the governmental counsel."

"Right, you've got one down in the cells, haven't you?" The Doctor looked up at Jack and fixed him with his business-like expression.

"Yes, we caught her a couple of days ago," Jack nodded in reply, "but before we go down there, you need to look at this."

Jack leaned forwards and handed the Doctor the screwed up piece of paper that Owen had retrieved from the hands of one of the corpses in the morgue. The Doctor scanned the clipping and frowned at it. Donna leaned over his shoulder and looked at it too, taking in the picture on the yellowing paper.

"Why is there a guy in cricket whites in the middle of Cardiff," She paused briefly to check the date at the top of the picture, "a hundred years ago?"

The Doctor looked at her sideways. He hadn't actually told her about the fact that he changed his appearance when he regenerated, it hadn't really come up in conversation yet. He just shrugged when she met his eye. "Well, maybe he started the craze?"

Jack snorted to himself and Donna looked over in confusion. The Doctor sunk down a little in his seat, remembering his days with the long blond hair and white clothes. The leek had been his favourite part. He had to say that he much preferred the long brown coat, glasses and shabby suits of his current phase much more. He looked back at the paper and studied the article below the picture.

"It seems that I- I mean, this man, was seen at every one of the murders… I assume I- _he_ was the lead suspect then?" he avoided Donna's unimpressed look and caught Jack's eye.

"Yeah. I remember being sent to investigate some of the first murders, but they seemed perfectly normal. The police put it down to a serial killer and started to look for him. Obviously, the blond man in cricket whites had the blame pinned on him." Jack smirked. "I mean, Donna's perfectly right! He was running around early twentieth century in clothes that didn't even exist yet."

The Doctor looked at him with an expression of deep disapproval before jumping to his feet, excitement sparking into his eyes as he grinned down at Jack.

"Right! Lets go see the prisoner!" he bounced on the balls of his feet as Jack laughed at him, getting to his feet and holding his arm out for Donna, who stood up and took it, raising her eyebrows again in surprise.


	42. Chapter 2: Meeting the Captive

I quite like this chapter Don't worry, I'm working on the rest of this part as we speak, so they'll be following every day or so once they're finished. I hope you're still sticking around to read!

Thank you SO much to everyone who's been reading and reviewing, it's the real reason I keep going, knowing that there's people out there enjoying it

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything below except the alien race... the rest if Russel T. Davies and the respective actors/actresses.

* * *

_Chapter 2: Meeting the Captive_

Ianto had managed to compose himself enough to leave the kitchen area a few minutes after his escape. As he reached the workstations, he saw Jack, Donna and the Doctor leaving. Jack beckoned him over and together, the four of them headed down to the cells, the Doctor in the lead, off in his own little world.

Ianto walked with his hands in his pockets, keeping a few feet behind Donna and Jack, who were chatting quietly again. _If this is how he got on with Martha and Rose, how the hell were they ever supposed to resist?_ Ianto smiled wryly to himself as they strolled through the corridors. Jack was turning his usual, irresistible charm on the woman, brightening the entire hub as a side effect.

"Ianto, which cells did we stick the Astorian in again?" Jack had stopped and twisted around to look at him before he directed the Doctor down any particular pathway. Ianto raised his eyebrows and kept his lips firmly closed, a smile quirking at their corners as he simply walked past the small group down the corridor that lead to the bank of cells which housed Janet.

After a few minutes of silent walking on Ianto's behalf, the group reached the door into the bank of cells. He opened the thick iron door and held it for Donna and the Doctor to pass. He waited for Jack to pass as well, but instead of walking past him, he stopped and slipped an arm around his waist, running his nose gently along Ianto's jaw line in a way that made it a little hard for the young man to keep breathing properly.

"Have I done something wrong to deserve a silence from you?" Jack's voice was low and concerned. Ianto just chuckled to himself, leaning in a little to Jack.

"Not at all, I was simply leaving you to be the good host to your guests." Ianto smiled crookedly and captured Jack's lips in a kiss as they ghosted over his own. After a moment, he pulled away and twisted Jack round, pushing him through the doorway. "Speaking of which…"

He'd muttered the last couple of words, causing Jack to chuckle as he approached the Doctor and Donna, both looking in amazement at the silvery humanoid in the middle cell. The man crouched down so that he was on an eye level with the creature, which was sitting on the floor, a small frown creasing his forehead. The creature was asleep, head lolled against the wall peacefully.

"Has anything apart from the murders been reported to you?" The Doctor asked without looking up.

"There was a disturbance shortly before the bodies were found on the first occasion, which lead to the police being called. I don't know what it was though. I think there was another disturbance again the second time we were called but I don't know for sure. The police put them down to rabble rousers and they don't usually tell us about that." Jack shrugged and stepped a little closer, though still staying by Ianto, who was watching the scene with interest.

The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver and held it towards the sleeping alien, the blue light flashing as it made a whirring sound. Several things happened at once.

The alien woke up, eyes wide and panicked at the sight of the man in front of her, the Doctor dropped his screwdriver and clapped his hands over his ears with a yell and the screwdriver dropped to the floor, rolling over to rest against Ianto's foot.

Jack watched in alarm as the Doctor winced, slowly removing his hands and angling his head away from the creature as if torn between reluctance and fascination. Donna crouched down next to him, glancing between the terrified alien and the pained Doctor. Ianto surveyed the scene again before bending down to retrieve the screwdriver, turning it over carefully to make sure there was no noticeable damage.

After what felt like hours, the two entranced figures eased up, the Doctor sighing heavily and rocking back onto his heels, the alien curling in on itself and averting it's eyes.

"What the hell was that?" Jack frowned, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the man crouched on the floor.

"Physic communication, I've never had that happen without physical contact… ow." He rubbed his temples gently as Jack chuckled grimly to himself before glancing back at Ianto, who was holding the screwdriver out for him to pass back. Jack grasped it and tossed it over to the Doctor, who caught it smoothly, twirling it before slotting it back inside his jacket.

"Are you okay?" Donna was watching the Doctor with concern. He just patted her hand which was resting on his shoulder and smiled.

"Yeah, nothing like near psychic shock to clear the senses!" He flashed her one of his dazzling grins and she laughed lightly in return. He looked back over to the creature in the cell and found it watching him carefully, wearily blinking it's eyes in his direction.

The Doctor met the silvery orbs with a look of curiosity. "You've heard me before... why have you heard me before?"

Donna just frowned at him, not really understanding what he was saying. She didn't know whether he was simply reading the body language or whether he was getting information from the creature on another level, but she knew that she wasn't getting those messages. She never really had understood him though, so it wasn't something that disturbed her unduly.

Jack watched him with a vague impression of what was going on, knowing just how expressive the creature's actions had been. It wasn't hard for him to imagine it communicating with the Doctor. It was Ianto, standing by the door to the vaults, hands in pockets, who figured out what was going on. He looked from the creature, to the Doctor to Jack and repeated the process a couple of times. Finally, after several long minutes of silence, he decided to voice his idea.

"I think I know what's going on." His tone was casual, bringing the Doctor's attention from the Astorian's eyes to the Welshman standing by the door. He looked at Ianto with a mixture of interest, excitement and intrigue. "It's pretty simple if you think about it."

"Go on, Ianto, I'm listening." The Doctor swivelled fully to look at him. Ianto was suddenly acutely aware of the four pairs of eyes on him, for even the Astorian had turned to watched him.

"Well, there were disturbances at the murder scenes… the culprits were never found, and the tracks leading from the scene were scrambled not far from the bodies and they couldn't be traced. The police just put it down to other people and we put it down to the aliens." Ianto swallowed, thinking through just how ridiculous he was about to sound. Jack met his eye and nodded with a small smile on his face.

"Well, it strikes me," he carried on, "that you can travel through time and such, so you can go to the past. It also strikes me that if you were to be given details of the locations of each murder scene, you would be able to catch the Astorians to blame as they strike."

"Well that solves one problem, perfect thinking!" The Doctor grinned at him. "But what about the fact that this one obviously knows me?"

"This is a stab in the dark," Ianto stepped closer to the alien, falling into line next to Jack for both comfort and safety, "but I'm thinking that as they're psychic, they communicate between themselves like that… So once you caught the first of them, a warning would be sent through everyone, an alert. That warning would also carry memories of your appearance and psychic 'voice', as it were-"

"Of course!" The Doctor jumped up and kissed Ianto comically on the mouth, making Jack and Donna laugh at the look of complete shock on the young man's face. "A psychic echo of my mind would have been sent through them all, so they'd recognise me when I turned up! This one must be the last of them… You haven't had anymore attacks since you caught her have you?"

"No. Come to think of it, we haven't." Jack looked over at the Doctor, impressed.

"Poor thing, she must be terrified…" The three men turned to look at Donna who was standing against the Perspex, one hand placed gently on the surface, a look of pity in her eyes. "Will you let her go? Will you take her home and let her go?"

The Doctor looked at the creature in silence, his face suddenly empty of his usual enthusiasm, full of time and experience. "I don't know, Donna. I'm supposed to turn her over to authorities. Earth's a classified planet, no hunting of the species is allowed. She's broken the rule."

"Only to keep peace on her planet!" Donna rounded on him, her eyes furious, he mouth set stubbornly. Jack was reminded of both the Doctor's previous companions; Rose in the face of Daleks and humans melded to gasmasks, Martha in the face of the Master and Earth's almost certain destruction.

"I'll think about it, Donna, I can't promise anything." His tone closed the conversation and Jack watched as Donna nodded and turned back to the alien, knowing not to push him any further.

"I should go make a list of all the times and locations that were reported." Ianto said to Jack, making the Doctor whip around and grin at him again.

"Phwoar, you're good, Ianto Jones." The Doctor's eyes glittered in a way that made Jack's stomach flip a little in concern. "You're brilliant! Jack, would you mind if I-"

"Yes." Jack had moved slightly to put himself in front of the young man. "There's no way in hell that I'm letting you take him away from here to the realms of almost certain death that you seem to find yourself in so often."

Ianto snorted faintly behind him and nudged Jack's side with his elbow before turning and making his way up to the hub to compile the lists for the Doctor and Donna. They were going to be crucial in this whole event. Any miss information that Ianto got them could cause a paradox, or change the future dramatically. Ianto didn't like the sound of that. _This will be the most detailed list I've ever made… Including that one for Jack on why I like my ties in one piece at the end of the day…_ He thought savagely as he exited to archives and headed over to his temporary desk in the hub.


	43. Chapter 3: Of Love and Timelords

Sorry this has taken so long.. I'm busy juggling everything atm. My dad's decided to go overboard on everything and I'm having trouble getting time to myself enough to sit down, plan and write this part. If it's any consolation, the next part is fully planned out. I'm just trying to engineer this part so the next one can happen.

I'm so sorry for these crappy delays, I'll try to make the gaps a maximum of three days between chapters, but I'll try for one or two for the rest of the part. I feel really bad about this, so I hope you lot are still interested in reading (I wouldn't blame you if you weren't though.)

Please enjoy and review, you're all stars!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own them, RTD does.

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_Chapter 3: Of Love and Timelords_

Ianto was sitting in the boardroom, his laptop open to the side of him and numerous files and folders splayed out across the glass surface. He'd been working at his chronology of the attacks for about twenty minutes before he heard footsteps heading toward him.

They didn't sound like Jack, so he turned in his seat to find Donna walking approaching him, looking a little lost. She looked up from the floor and smiled at him. He gestured to the chair opposite the table from him and she sat down thankfully.

"Ianto, right?" She asked a little nervously.

"Yup. What can I do for you?" He smiled politely and put his pen down, turning all his attention to her.

"Oh, nothing! I'm fine, thanks." He nodded and sat back in his seat.

"Those two getting a little too excited?" He laughed at the expression on her face. After a moment or two, she joined in and visibly relaxed.

"I thought it was bad when he went off on one himself. I mean, I've been all over the place with him, and he's like a little kid with a new toy almost all the time. You get used to that sort of thing." Ianto nodded, still smiling. He knew what it was like to have Jack bouncing around the Hub like a four year old on Christmas. "But that, down there. He talks to Jack like they're the same person. You ever noticed that they just finish each other's sentences all the time?"

"Yeah, you get used to that after a while as well." Ianto smiled sympathetically. "I think the worst thing though is when they start talking about things that happened on their trips, with Martha or with Rose. You have to not let it get under your skin."

"I've heard all about Martha, but he doesn't really talk much about Rose. I kind of figure that she died." Donna looked a little uncomfortable, as if the subject was way out of bounds. Ianto knew what she meant.

"Do you remember a couple of years ago? When there were 'ghosts' on the streets and in homes?" Ianto leaned forwards, resting his elbows on the table and watching Donna carefully. She nodded and he continued. "That was because the people in charge of Torchwood London, Torchwood One, were messing with the Rift. They ripped it enough for hoards of cybermen to get into this dimension. They were the 'ghosts'.

"The Doctor was there, I heard the rumours just before everything went wrong. The Doctor had been taken into custody along with two blond women, one younger than the other, and a blue Police Call box was chained up in the vaults. Everyone was trying to get a good look at them, but Director Hartman didn't let them out of her sight.

"Something went wrong and the cybermen came through the Rift completely. For some reason, millions of daleks turned up as well, I don't know how that happened though."

"Hang on, you were there?" Donna asked incredulously, her face painted with an expression of shock and disbelief. Ianto just nodded.

"I was a junior researcher in Torchwood Tower." Ianto was grimly pleased with himself for being able to talk about his past without breaking down. Donna closed her mouth and nodded.

"What happened after that?" He voice was quiet but excited, obviously eager to hear the explanation of Rose and the Doctor.

"I don't know exactly, but from what I remember, all the cybermen and daleks were sucked through the wound in the Rift. At first, I thought Rose had died, I saw her name on the list of the dead and when I caught a glimpse of the Doctor leaving the top levels of the Tower to find his TARDIS, she wasn't with him." Donna's hand had come to her mouth in surprise and sympathy for the Doctor. "She didn't die though. I didn't know what happened until Jack came back form his last trip with the Doctor. He said she was still alive, but living in another universe. She was safe, but she couldn't ever come back."

"I get it. The Doctor was in love with her, but she had to leave." Donna nodded to herself and Ianto looked down at the table, trying not to dwell on memories of Canary Wharf. It was the past and didn't need to be brooded over.

"I'm pretty sure Jack was as well. The only reason he came to Cardiff in the first place was to try and find them again. Until he left a few months ago, I don't think Jack had ever really forgiven the Doctor for leaving him behind, but he still loved him."

Donna's eyebrows shot up. "That's lot of baggage for a mere mortal like yourself to take on."

"Oh really?" Ianto laughed at that statement. "It's worth it, though. My baggage cancels out a good chunk of his anyway. How about you? I mean, the Doctor has as much baggage as Jack does."

"What?" Donna laughed as well, her face splitting into a grin. "We're not together! I think I'm the only person he's ever flown with who hasn't been into him in that way!"

Ianto smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't realise. You're just a complete match for him. You seem to ground him when he gets too hyped up."

"All in a day's work." Donna smiled and Ianto nodded. "Besides, someone needs to do it when he pairs up with someone like Jack, but I doubt I have to tell _you_ that."

"I _does_ seem like a little club they have. I mostly just leave them to it. Tosh is the only one who can really keep up with them, but she doesn't out of courtesy." Ianto sighed slightly at the memory of overdrive conversations with seemingly no punctuation at all. Martha had been involved in them, but she seemed to feed off the energy more than the content of the conversations.

"Tosh?" Donna frowned slightly, mentally shaking Ianto into the present again.

"You'll meet her later. There's three other members of the team, but they're out on a recon mission at the moment. They should be back soon." Ianto grimaced as he remembered the bad mood Owen had been in. "Don't worry about Owen, his bark's worse than his bite."

"Okay, I'll trust you on that." She smiled and looked down at the scattered paperwork, reports and photographs on the desk. "What's all this for?"

"This is all we know on the attacks. I'm compiling them into chronological order to give to the Doctor, so he can go back and sort everything out." He glanced at the open laptop and noticed the PDA plugged into it, a slow smile creeping across his face as an idea came to him. He leaned over and tapped a few buttons, bringing up the hand held's memory and documents.

"What?" Donna watched him curiously.

"I think I've just found a way to get back at them, if you're up for it that is." He raised his eyebrows suggestively and Donna grinned, obviously on the same page as him when it came to teaching the two time travellers a lesson in twenty first century etiquette.

* * *

Jack pointed Donna in the direction of the boardroom after she declined his invitation to walk her there. Both men watched her walk cautiously through the main area of the Hub, Jack relaxing back on the sofa, the Doctor perched on the edge, hands clasped and elbows resting on his knees.

"She's a good girl, Doctor, I'll give her that." Jack looked over to see an almost paternal smile on his friend's face as he watched the door where Donna had just exited from.

"Yeah. She's formidable though. There's something about her that keeps me from flying off, that reminds me I'm not just watching a film. It's someone's reality and I can't just throw it away." Jack started to laugh, imagining a face off between the two of them.

"My, my, you're practically domesticated!" Jack said witha slight smirk. The Doctor looked round with a smile.

"I could say the same thing for you! Your Mr. Jones is definitely something. He intelligent, good looking, tidy. You sure I can't take him on a trip sometime?" Jack scowled slightly before sighing and looking away from the other man. "Is the idea really that repulsive?" The Doctor said with a frown

"It's not that, Doctor. I would love it if he could see even just a few of the things I have. It's just that it's too dangerous. No offence, but if he goes anywhere on that TARDIS, he's going with me." The Doctor snorted softly and nodded. He knew what it was like to put someone he loved in danger like that. "But I couldn't leave my team, not again."

"She's a time machine, Jack, they wouldn't even know we'd left." The Doctor pointed out. Jack shot him a pointed look.

"Last time I left with you, I came back over a month later! Don't tell me the same thing won't happen again, Rose told me all about that year she missed." Jack fixed the Doctor with a look and the other man raised his hands in acceptance.

"Okay, fine. Point made. Still, Ianto is something out of the ordinary, even the TARDIS noticed it." Jack frowned slightly at the words. "She got a little maternal over him. You're going to have to be very careful with him if you don't want the cold shoulder next time you're in there."

"There's no way I'm going to hurt him." Jack said defiantly, looking away.

"Maybe not intentionally, but Jack. You live forever, he doesn't. Are you seriously going to spend his entire life with him?" The Doctor watched him in concern, seeing the doubts and pain flutter through Jack's eyes. "Especially a life that will probably be cut far too short. You know better than I do what Torchwood does to someone's life expectancy."

"I thought about sending him away." Jack said softly. "After your last visit, I thought about telling him to go find a normal job and have a family, grow old with someone who loves him and have a normal life. I even spoke to him about it, but he stopped the conversation dead. He's not stupid, he knew what I was going to say and wouldn't let me. We're both far too stubborn to give each other up."

He grinned, the playful spark back in his eyes, making the Doctor realise that topic was now finished. He grinned back and jumped up. "Besides, why on Earth would I give someone as good in bed as him?" The Doctor barked a laugh and shook his head in disbelief. Some things never changed.

"Right, since we're going to be hanging around for a while, I'm going to go talk to your pterodactyl. It's been a while since I found a relatively tame dinosaur." The Doctor smiled at Jack in that childish way that showed how excited he was and Jack just smiled at him, gesturing towards the walkway that lead up to the cave at the top of the Hub.

"Don't feed her anything, Ianto will kill you. He's got her in a pretty strict regime and doesn't like people interfering with it." Jack grimaced to himself at the memory of the last time he'd fed Myfanwy. She'd been perched by the workstations and he'd been sitting on the sofa, tossing pieces of pizza and doughnut to her. Ianto had denied him sex and coffee for a week. He'd barely made it.

"Don't worry, Mr. Jones' word is law around here, I already gathered that much." He grinned one last time and strolled off to go find the prehistoric flying lizard. Jack leaned back and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment's peace.

It didn't last long as he heard two loud voices arguing about something. It didn't surprise him when the cog door rolled back to tell him that the rest of his team had arrived, Tosh walking in first, looking thoroughly disgruntled, clutching the storage box in her arms to her as she went to her desk.

"It's the middle of the day, Owen! You can't speed in built up areas!" Gwen was following Owen closely, the look of anger on her face mirroring the irritation on his.

"Oh get over it. Kids should be in school and everyone else should be in work or somewhere else." Owen sat down at his desk, ignoring Gwen standing next to him, arms folded and lips pouting in disapproval.

"Next time, I drive." She declared but Owen just glared at his computer screen and said nothing.

"No, next time, I drive." Everyone looked around in shock at Tosh, still facing her computer screen, opening up an analysis program.

"You okay, Tosh?" Jack asked cautiously.

"I was until those two disturbed the debris during their argument and forced me to dig through the rubble for half an hour longer than needed for all of the devices." Jack squeezed her shoulder sympathetically and turned to raise an eyebrow to the other two, who were looking suitably chastised.

"By the way, we have visitors, so don't be surprised if you hear any loud crashes or bangs from various points of the Hub." Jack said as he walked back into his office. It was only then that the other three noticed the TARDIS parked in the basin.


	44. Chapter 4: A Final Warning

Yay, we're rocking and rolling over here, aren't we! I've suddenyl found myself with a landslide of time to myself, so I'm going to sit down and fully write part 5 now, having planned the rest of it. I must saythat part of the reason this has been so slow is becasue this part a bit of a non entity, just a nice transitional between two good storylines, building bonds and relationships up.

But let me tell ya', I'm building up to one hell of a Part 6! Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I sadly don't own them, they belong to RTD and the BBC

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_Chapter 4: A Final Warning_

Jack sat at his desk and pulled yet another file towards him. All he seemed to do these days was filing. He'd come back from the Valiant as the brave and battle scarred hero of the world. Or at least, one of the three heroes. Okay, in the company on the real one - Martha Jones had saved them all that day she escaped, including the Doctor.

With a sigh, he thought just how removed from that life of danger and excitement it was to sit here and fill out reports. That was usually Ianto's job, but he'd put the young man in charge of liaisons with the Doctor for the Astorian case – not that he regretted it, Ianto's intellect and diligence was wasted on doing paperwork.

He heaved another sigh and started to day dream wistfully about the young man. There'd been a time, not so long ago to Ianto, when Jack had been primarily interested in his amazing body and stunning good looks. It didn't help that Ianto was oblivious to how attractive he was. It was a funny thing, the way love worked, he decided.

He'd always assumed that when his current team had completely assembled, Gwen would be the one he would chase and fall for, but things had been knocked to beautifully off course after Lisa was revealed. In a way, he thanked her for betraying Ianto and running riot. It had given Jack a chance to really _see_ the young man. It didn't bare thinking about, not now he was irrefutably in love with Ianto, that maybe he would've continued to fade through the background until he vanished altogether.

That got him thinking back through all the events that he could pinpoint for the changes in his life. The day he'd let the girl read his fortune in the drinking house, the day he'd stopped Rose from falling to her death, the day he'd woken up with no recollection of his missing memories, cold and shivering as the rain poured down on him…

_It was with a lurch that Jack woke up, aware of an ache in his left shoulder and a throbbing in his head. He tried to look up, only to find rain pummelling him mercilessly, a double team with the cold that bit through his sodden clothes. _

_Sitting up, he looked around, trying to work out where he was. It was a dark alley and at the end, he could see metal buildings and neon lights, the sounds and smells of a market place rushing towards him. He pushed himself wearily to his feet and spat on the ground, a sudden metallic tang assaulting the back of his tongue, a taste that he only half recognised. _

_Grimacing, he stumbled to the end of the alley, pulling his jacket closer around him, mentally noting that he still had his guns holstered under his arms and his knife lashed to his left thigh. He shook his hair from his eyes, an arc of rain water flying off as he stepped out into the street, blending effortlessly into the hustle and bustle of the evening dinner rush._

_His mind worked furiously as he walked, trying to remember what had happened to him. All he could recall was going back to his bedsit after a particularly rough mission to an era of Earth when Russia was intent on destroying the American government, and vice versa. The trip had been rough, his partner being in a colossal temper with him because of something that had happened towards the end of a two week time loop – which had been five years for the two of them. _

_It had been like having a wife, but after returning, his partner hadn't stopped snapping at him about leaving empty cartons and dirty dishes around their area in the station. Jack had been gritting his teeth throughout the whole mission and things had gotten hairy at certain points, one or the other of them having to drag the other out of danger too many times to count. It was the reason, this intense annoyance, that Jack had gone home, grabbed a bottle of unopened hypervodka and thrown himself into his bed pit. He then remembered picking up the day's news hologram and the date flashing in front of him._

_With a burst of renewed enthusiasm, he scanned the busy street and headed to a kiosk, looking at the calendar hanging on the back wall, only to find that it didn't display the year. He leaned forwards and grabbed the shop keeper by the front of his shirt, startling the man._

"_What year is it?" Jack hissed dangerously._

"_It's 5078" The man stammered, fear in his expression. Jack froze, his eyes narrowing as the words sunk in. With a growl of disgust, he let the man go and stalked off down the street some more, barely noticing the rain trickling down his collar and the people that jostled him and he bumped into in return. So they'd removed two years of his life, had they? _

_He sat down at another kiosk, this time selling a range of alcohols to suit almost every species alive, the bottles of brightly coloured liquids hanging on the back wall as a functional display. He ordered himself a double whiskey – he adored the twentieth century Earth liquor, it was soothing to him somehow, a trusted flavour that inspired confidence. _

"_Cheer up, the world's not ending, you know!" A cheerful, female voice chimed in. He turned to regard the Chulan woman sitting next to him. With a smile, he appreciated the pure beauty of the woman's face and the songlike quality to her voice. He laughed in reply and they got to talking, drinking copious amounts of various spirits until she offered to take him back to her ship._

_He thought for a moment about what to do. He could stay there and brood, wallowing in self pity until he drunk through all the credits left in his account, or he could get up and go with the beautiful stranger and enjoy himself. It struck him that wallowing wasn't the bets of his options. _

_With a smile, he pulled his credit card from his inside pocket and tossed it to the barman, paying for the woman's drinks as well. As he stretched to take back the metal, his jacket sleeve rode up a little and he saw his vortex manipulator still strapped comfortingly to his wrist. With an intense feeling of triumph, he sobered almost completely, a sneer of defiance being barely suppressed._

_It didn't take him long to locate the woman's ship and 'borrow' it._

There was a knocking at his door, quiet and patient. He was just considering getting up to open it when what sounded like someone shooting rockets at it started. With a childish pout, he stayed seated and waited for their patience to wear thin.

If Ianto was there, he would've timed it taking thirty seven seconds for the door to be thrown open and an irritated Gwen Cooper to storm through it, standing in front of Jack's desk with her hands on her hips and a glare in her eyes.

Feeling particularly petty thanks to his trip down memory lane, Jack ignored her and looked over to Owen, who was approaching him in an altogether more civilised and polite manner. He came to a halt next to Gwen and folded his arms, looking at Jack with an air of amusement, obviously wanting to witness Gwen's rant.

"Jack! How could you get him back here without consulting the rest of us?" Gwen ground out, her tone filled with barely restrained anger, slightly louder than acceptable for a chat.

"I think I've missed something here." Jack said, frowning at her.

"The TARDIS is sitting in the basin, which I can only assume means you've let the Doctor loose in the Hub." Gwen said furiously, her nostrils flaring. Silently, Jack laughed at the sight – he'd always found it an extremely funny reaction to being angry. "Why?"

Jack raised his eyebrows, not in the least bit intimidated by the woman. "What brought you to the conclusion that you needed to know?"

"Because," Gwen bristled, obviously being wound up by Jack's calm exterior, "we deserve to know when you bring strangers in here."

"He's not a stranger, Gwen." Jack said with the barest hint of a smile, something which she didn't fail to notice. "And I think the real problem is that I did it without consulting _you_ first."

Owen winced and leaned away from Gwen, who'd tensed to the point of ricocheting off the walls if she snapped. Jack leaned back as well, weary of her reaction to his words, almost regretting them. Then he figured that he shouldn't be made to feel bad for dealing with something the best way he could think of. So, instead of letting Gwen take control of the situation, he stood up behind his desk and used his physical height to his advantage.

"If you have a problem with something I do, you come and talk to me face to face in a calm and civilised manner." Jack stared at her, his face completely blank but for a warning in his eyes. "I'm in charge around here and I don't expect you to second guess my every move. This isn't the first time you've done this and it isn't the first time I've told you to remember your place."

Jack sighed heavily and rubbed his temples, trying desperately not to snap like he had before.

"Gwen," He finally said, his teeth gritted and eyes closed as he counted to ten – well, as Ianto's voice in his head counted to ten, "get back to your desk and finish your work. Once you're done, I want you to go home to Rhys. Under no circumstances do I want to see you back in my Hub until you feel able to follow my directions and work in sync with the rest of my team.

"If I were you, I would think very long and very hard about whether you can fallow my orders and respect your team-mates, because if this ever happens again, you were never here."

Gwen was on the verge of tears, he could tell. There was a tension in the room that suggested Owen was intensely uncomfortable and wanted the hell out, but didn't feel like he could move. Jack opened his eyes slowly as he heard no movement and met Gwen's eyes, filled with anger and fear – _not enough fear_, Jack thought savagely.

When she still didn't move, Jack slammed his hands down on that desk, yelling, "Now!"

A moment more and she turned on her heel, stalking out of the office, passed Owen and back to her desk. Jack looked at Owen, who gave him a surprisingly sympathetic tutt and roll of the eyes before he too left to do his work. Jack sat back down and pretended to read through the report in front of him, drifting off into a swirl of nothingness instead.

"What was that for, Jack?" A voice asked softly, sounding from somewhere behind him. He turned around to see Ianto leaning sideways on the wall behind him, a look of vague disapproval on his face.

"We had a misunderstanding." Jack said curtly, trying to push the conversation into their boss-employee relationship. It didn't work, as Ianto moved forwards and placed his hands on Jack's shoulders, rubbing them gently.

"I think you got through to her that time." Ianto said, doing his best to calm Jack down and stop him from brooding too much over the threat he'd issued.

"I really, really hope so, Yan." Jack finally said with a sigh.


	45. Chapter 5: Words of Wisdom

YO! Wassup dawgs?

I know this has been absolutely ages coming, but I'll admit freely that my muses have been giving me a run for my money recently. I've also gone back to school, and it's really tiring already! Though these aren't real excuses!

Whilst I may not be updating regularly from here on out, I'll try to get through in a reasonable amount of time :) My main problem is finishing this Part, but once I have, the next couple are going to be rolling off me like quiksilver!

Thankyou to everyone who's stuck with me, I hope I don't disappoint! Please, please comment, they make me REAL happy :)

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anyone sadly, they're RTD's and the BBC's

* * *

_Chapter 5: Words of Wisdom_

Gwen had finished every single piece of paperwork on her desk, including the pile Ianto had distributed to everyone mid afternoon. There'd been a lot of it left over from the past few months. She suddenly realised that she'd been far more worried about being in charge and having the final say in everything that she'd neglected the rest of her work.

_Am I really that bad?_ She mused as she silently left the Hub at around seven that evening. _I wasn't asking that much, just why he was there. I deserved to know - we all did._ She nodded her head stubbornly as she walked across the plass and towards the flat she shared with Rhys, deciding the fresh air would do her good.

Jack watched this from the safety of his office, brooding silently over everything that had happened. He desperately didn't want to retcon Gwen, but he couldn't have a renegade employee, not in Torchwood. It was too dangerous for Gwen, far too dangerous for Jack and even more dangerous for the other three. Look what had happened last time an employee had ignored his orders – Owen had opened the Rift and… well, the rest was history.

"Excuse me, Captain?" Jack looked up in surprise and saw Donna standing just inside the doorway. "I'm sorry, but Ianto asked me to come and 'save you from yourself', as he put it."

"I swear he can read my mind sometimes." Jack said with a surprisingly honest laugh.

"No, but I know when you're brooding." Ianto called from a station just outside the door. Jack sighed and stood up, walking towards Donna and grabbing his coat, pulling it on as he walked her outside to where Ianto was standing expectantly. "I'm taking Donna and the Doctor out for dinner and I would appreciate it if you stopped moping and joined us."

Jack frowned for a moment before stepping over and pulling Ianto to him, dipping him into a dramatic kiss, eliciting and laugh from Donna. He pulled his head up and looked at Ianto, grinning at the obviously fake look of annoyance on his face. After a couple of moments of being drawn into each other's eyes, Jack pulled Ianto back upright and turned to Donna, holding his arm out for her to take.

"Right, where would you like to eat?" Jack asked the woman with a smile.

"How about that little place that overlooks the water?" The Doctor asked from behind him, a grin on his face. "You know, the one with the glass walls? It's only been a year or so on this timeline, right?"

"Yeah, it's running, and it managed to repair the damages as well." Jack said with a raised eyebrow and a hint of disapproval. The Doctor grinned innocently at him and stepped over to the invisible lift, waiting on the slab for the other three to join him. Jack was next to move and turned to find Ianto as he too stepped onto the slab.

"I know where you're going, I'll meet you in ten. There's some scans I told Tosh I'd finish for her." Ianto said with a smile, lying through his teeth. Jack gave him a wistful look before jumping onto the stone and activating it.

Chatting amicably, the three of them strolled across the plass to the small restaurant and booked a table for the four of them, Jack saving the seat next to him for when Ianto decided to join them. He was a little confused as to what exactly was happening, knowing for a fact that Tosh hadn't started any scans in the hours she'd been at the Hub that day.

* * *

Ianto sighed and waited for the slab to stop moving before he pulled out his mobile phone and dialled Gwen. She picked up after the fourth ring with a defensive tone to her voice. _"Hello?"_

"Gwen, it's Ianto." He said with patience he didn't feel.

"_What've I done this time?"_ She was instantly on the defensive and he could see the accusation in her eyes through the connection.

"Nothing at all. I was calling to make sure you were alright." Ianto replied coolly, not letting her rile him up. "I heard some of what Jack said earlier, and whilst I do agree with him, I think he overreacted."

"_I didn't do anything, Ianto."_ She was angry now, the defensive, hostile tone setting Ianto's teeth on edge, putting an itch in his right hand.

"Snapping at me isn't going to solve anything." Ianto said in a cold voice, knowing that Gwen had a great deal of issues concerning his and Jack's relationship. "Believe it or not, I'm trying to help you."

"_How're you going to do that?"_ Scepticism next, the patronising tone she gave him every time he tried to say something in a team meeting or to anyone in front of her that didn't involve food or coffee. He very almost hung up then and there.

"By telling you to listen to Jack, despite how much you think you were in the right. You seem to forget that he's lived longer than all of us put together and has a great deal of experience. He's good at his job, Gwen, and he's trying incredibly hard to be fair and just with you - and has been since your first day. If you make it any harder for him to do his job, you'll find that his seemingly unending patience runs short."

"_Ianto-"_ Gwen began, but the young man cut the call and sighed heavily. It had been a warning and a threat tied into one but he still didn't know why he'd done it. A part of him still disliked Gwen for her carefree and cavalier way of working, using the rest of them as if she was ruler of the world, ignoring Ianto like he was nothing more than a picture hung on a corridor wall.

The rest of him knew that Jack couldn't function if he lost her from the team. That's why he was doing it. Jack needed them all to be able to keep the world safe. Anything that jeopardised that was Ianto's job to sort out, whether it was cleaning up a dead body, washing the SUV or pulling rogue team members back into line.

With a satisfied nod, he powered down the remaining computers and patched the Rift alarm through to Jack's wrist band, as Tosh had shown him earlier in the day. Once he was finished, he left through the Tourist Office, locking up behind him and walking slowly across the plass, enjoying the feeling of the air on his skin after a day in the underground base.

The restaurant was fairly quiet, only a few other groups of people and several couples enjoying a romantic evening out. When Ianto stepped in, the waiter at the bar immediately showed him over to Jack's table, having obviously been tipped quite well to do so.

Ianto sat down with a sigh and shot Jack a look before shrugging his jacket off and leaning back, glad to be out of work and in a place where relaxing was more than just possible, it was expecting. He turned his attention then to the story the Doctor was telling the other two, grinning madly as he watched Jack shake his head in embarrassment.

"… and then Jack here hooked it up to the TARDIS and it all but ripped the city apart! I mean, not that he knew what was going to happen." The Doctor blew his cheeks out at the memory. "Of course, she managed to get back on and grabbed Rose…"

He stumbled then, frowning as if something had gone wrong in his memory. Before Donna had a chance to really notice, Jack dived in to finish the story. "She'd half turned back into a Slitheen, but the TARDIS was angrier than I'd ever seen! The hatch flips open and she just stares straight into the heart of it, completely hypnotised."

"Next thing we knew, there was an egg in a Margaret suit." The Doctor said with a grin, having recovered from his lapse in concentration. "Honestly, you should have been there. Of course, next thing we know, I'm trapped in Big Brother, Jack's being striped to the bone by Trinny and Susannah and daleks are about to take over the world!"

Jack laughed along with him, but he too had noticed that the Doctor had missed out Rose from his story. Jack had told Ianto the tale of his first death a long time ago, in the middle of the night when neither of them could sleep for worrying about one thing or another. Ianto remembered the look in his eyes when he'd spoken of thinking she was dead and finding her alive, only to be abandoned.

He had that same look in them now. Ianto couldn't stop himself from reaching out and linking his fingers with Jack's. Then the Doctor and Donna dived into a story for Jack, telling him all about a library in the fifty first century that covered an entire world.

* * *

Jack was happy by the time he and Ianto walked home, hand in hand as they enjoyed the stars shining in the clear sky. _Diamonds in ink_, Jack thought with a wry smile. The old clichés always were the most effective.

The dinner had gone smoothly, but Jack hadn't failed to notice the slightly distracted and absent look about his lover. He'd eventually put it down to the fact that the other three were talking about things he'd never participated in. The things that happened at Torchwood on a daily basis were hardly the glamorous and breath-taking adventures of the TARDIS.

When they arrived back at the flat, Ianto headed into the kitchen on autopilot to make coffee, having kicked his shoes off and hung up his coat. Jack took a few moments longer to do so and waited for a minute to follow Ianto in.

"What were you doing after we left?" Jack asked carefully, leaning back on the counter next Ianto.

"I had a phone call to make." Ianto said, watching the coffee mugs in front of him, his voice not wavering.

"Gwen?" Jack eventually asked, knowing already that the only reason Ianto wouldn't have just told him he was on the phone earlier was that the call wouldn't be one Jack wanted him to make. Or one he didn't want Jack to hear.

"Yep." Ianto replied casually, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. Jack nodded and didn't say anything else. Whatever had been said was between the two of them. "When do you think she'll come back?"

"Ideally?" Jack mused for a moment. "A couple of days, three maybe – a week tops."

"Realistically?" Ianto looked up, a knowing smile on his face.

"Tomorrow morning." Jack said with a laugh. Ianto handed him his coffee and they moved over to the large sofa in front of the television.


End file.
